KR20100106927A - Laser beam machining apparatus, method for manufacturing laser beam machining apparatus and method for machining using laser beam - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A laser machining apparatus, a method for manufacturing a laser machining apparatus, and a laser machining method are provided to improve the laser transfer efficiency and prevent the attachment of liquid onto a nozzle in a laser machining apparatus. CONSTITUTION: A laser machining apparatus(1) comprises a laser generator, a nozzle(10), and a cover(30). The nozzle sprays split liquid on a work piece. The laser generator generates laser which is guided into the sprayed split liquid in order to machine the work piece. The cover is arranged between the nozzle and the work piece in order to protect the nozzle and the split liquid from the scattering split liquid, and has a hole which the split liquid spilled out of the nozzle passes through.

Description

LASER BEAM MACHINING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING LASER BEAM MACHINING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MACHINING USING LASER BEAM}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus, a method for manufacturing a laser processing apparatus, and a laser processing method. In particular, a laser processing apparatus for processing a workpiece by a laser guided into a jetting liquid column ejected from a nozzle, and a laser processing A manufacturing method of a device and a laser processing method.

 Conventionally, there exist some which were described in patent document 1 as a processing apparatus which processes a to-be-processed object by spraying liquids, such as water. In the processing apparatus provided with the liquid jet nozzle apparatus of patent document 1, in order to prevent a workpiece to get wet by spraying the high pressure water which blew off from a to-be-processed part, and spreads around the process part or scatters in air, And a flexible material is provided at the front end of the cylindrical body, and the flexible material is brought into close contact with the work to be processed to prevent water from spreading around the processing portion.

As another example, there is a water jet cutting device that cuts a workpiece by spraying ultra-high pressure water in which the abrasive described in Patent Document 2 is mixed. In the water jet cutting device described in Patent Document 2, in order to prevent the high pressure water containing the abrasive from being splashed from the workpiece and scattering on the outer surface of the workpiece, a water sprayer is provided around the jet nozzle of the high pressure water, An annular water column is formed to prevent scattering of the water jet from the jet nozzle.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63-77699 Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Hei 5-42500

By the way, the laser processing apparatus which forms the jet liquid column by injecting a liquid from a nozzle, and processes a to-be-processed object by the laser guided in this jet liquid column has been developed. This type of laser processing apparatus is different from the conventional apparatus for processing only with a laser or the apparatus for processing using only high pressure water as described above. send. For this reason, in order to keep the laser transmission efficiency favorable, it is necessary to stabilize the fractionation liquid column.

In such a laser processing apparatus, after the jetting liquid column touches the workpiece, the liquid may be thrown off, and the liquid may adhere to the nozzle for jetting the jetting liquid column. In this case, the adhered liquid disturbs the flow of the jetting liquid column injected from the nozzle, and as a result, the transmission efficiency of the laser is lowered and the laser processing efficiency is lowered. Therefore, in this type of laser processing apparatus, it is very important to obtain a stable fractionation liquid column.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is a laser processing apparatus for processing a workpiece by a laser guided in a jetting liquid column ejected from a nozzle, wherein the adhesion of liquid to the nozzle is prevented, the jetting liquid column is protected, and the transmission efficiency of the laser is improved. It is providing the laser processing apparatus which can be made, the manufacturing method of this laser processing apparatus, and a laser processing method.

In order to achieve the above object, a laser oscillator for generating a laser, and a nozzle for injecting the jetting liquid to the workpiece, the laser processing apparatus for processing the workpiece by the laser guided in the jetting liquid injection from the nozzle, the nozzle And a cover disposed between the workpiece and the workpiece to protect the nozzle and the jetting liquid jet from the jetting of the jetted liquid. The cover is formed with a hole through which the jetting liquid jet injected from the nozzle can pass. Doing.

In the present invention configured as described above, the jet liquid is injected toward the workpiece through the hole formed in the cover. The laser is guided in the fractionation liquor and irradiated to the workpiece to process the workpiece. Even during the laser processing, even if the fractionation liquid column touches the workpiece and the fractionation liquid bounces off, the cover prevents adhesion of the liquid to the nozzle and disturbance of the fractionation liquid column. Thereby, favorable processing efficiency can be maintained, without reducing the transmission efficiency of the laser guided in a dividing liquid column.

In the present invention, preferably, the hole is formed by a laser guided into the jetting liquid column ejected from the nozzle.

Since the cover is formed with a hole processed by a laser guided in the jetting liquid column, the diameter of the hole becomes almost the same diameter as the jetting liquid column, and the gap formed between the jetting liquid column and the hole is minimized during laser processing. . Therefore, by the cover, it is possible to more reliably prevent the liquid splashing after touching the workpiece from adhering to the nozzle or touching the dividing liquor, and preventing the dividing of the dividing liquor. In addition, since the hole formed in the cover is formed by the laser guided in the dividing liquid column, when the hole is formed with the cover installed in the laser processing apparatus, the hole is not aligned with the dividing liquid column, You can place the hole.

In the present invention, preferably, the distance from the upper surface of the nozzle to the upper surface of the cover is 4 to 40 mm, and the upper surface of the cover has a dimension in the direction along the dividing liquid column of 2 mm or more and is substantially orthogonal to the dividing liquid column. The space part whose direction dimension is 5 mm or more is provided.

In this invention comprised in this way, the distance from the upper surface of a nozzle to the upper surface of a cover is 4-40 mm, The dimension of the direction according to the dividing liquid column on the upper surface of a cover is 2 mm or more, and is substantially orthogonal to a dividing liquid column. Since a space portion having a dimension of 5 mm or more is provided, it is possible to reliably prevent the sticking of the protruding liquid to the nozzle and the disturbance of the jetting liquid column while maintaining good processing performance. If the distance from the upper surface of the nozzle to the upper surface of the cover is too large, that is, if the dimension in the direction along the dividing liquid column of the space portion is increased, the distance from the nozzle to the workpiece is also increased, so that the nozzle can be brought close to the workpiece surface. It is not possible to obtain good machining performance. On the other hand, if the distance from the upper surface of the nozzle to the upper surface of the cover is too small, that is, if the dimension in the direction along the dividing liquid circumference of the space is made small, the liquid adheres between the cover and the nozzle due to the surface tension and the like. It is difficult to reliably prevent the adhesion of the liquid and the disturbance of the liquid liquor.

In the present invention, preferably, the diameter of the hole formed in the cover is equal to or larger than the diameter of the fractionation liquor and 20 times or less than the diameter of the fractionation liquor.

In the present invention configured as described above, since the diameter of the hole is equal to or larger than the diameter of the dividing liquor and is 20 times or less than the diameter of the dividing liquor, the diameter of the dividing hole is kept to a minimum while ensuring the size that the dividing liquor can pass through the cover. The nozzle and the jetting liquid column can be effectively protected from the jetting of the jetting liquid. At this time, if the diameter of the hole is smaller than the diameter of the jetting liquid column, the jetting liquid column cannot pass through the hole, and if the diameter of the hole is larger than 20 times the diameter of the jetting liquid column, the gap formed between the jetting liquid column and the hole becomes large, and is bounced off. There is a possibility that the fractionated liquid coming out from this gap enters the top of the cover and adheres to the nozzle or touches the fractional liquid column between the nozzle and the cover.

In the present invention, the cover is preferably formed in a thin plate shape.

In this invention comprised in this way, since the cover is formed in thin plate shape, the hole of a cover can be formed easily and with high precision by the laser guide | induced in the dividing liquid column.

In the present invention, preferably, the apparatus further includes air injection means disposed between the cover and the workpiece to inject an air jet toward the workpiece.

In the present invention configured as described above, if an air jet is injected onto the workpiece by air injection means during laser processing of the workpiece, the air jet removes the liquid around the processing portion of the workpiece. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively prevent the liquid from being thrown toward the nozzle by the air jetting means, and to more reliably prevent the liquid from adhering to the nozzle and the disturbance of the jetting liquid column.

Moreover, in order to achieve the said objective, the manufacturing method of the laser processing apparatus by this invention is provided with the laser oscillator which generate | occur | produces a laser, and the nozzle which injects a jetting liquid to a to-be-processed object, and guided in the jetting liquid column sprayed from a nozzle. A method of manufacturing a laser processing apparatus for processing a workpiece by a laser, comprising the steps of: providing a cover between the nozzle and the workpiece to protect the nozzle and the jet liquid column from the jetting of the jetted liquid; And irradiating the laser guided into the fractionation liquid column, forming a hole through which the fractionation liquid column can pass.

In the present invention configured as described above, since the hole is formed in the cover by the laser guided in the jet liquid column, the diameter of the hole is almost the same diameter as the jet liquid column. Therefore, during laser processing, the gap between the jetting liquid column and the hole is minimized, and the cover reliably prevents the liquid splashing after contacting the workpiece to adhere to the nozzle or the jetting liquid column between the nozzle and the cover. It is possible to manufacture a laser processing apparatus capable of preventing the disturbance of the jetting liquid column. The laser processing apparatus manufactured thereby can maintain better processing efficiency without lowering the transmission efficiency of the laser. In addition, since the hole of the cover is formed by the laser guided in the dividing liquid column, it is not necessary to align the hole with respect to the dividing liquid column, and a hole matching with the dividing liquid column can be formed at the correct position of the cover.

Moreover, in order to achieve the said objective, the laser processing method by this invention is provided with the laser oscillator which generate | occur | produces a laser, and the nozzle which injects a jetting liquid to a to-be-processed object, and the laser processing method guided by the laser guided in the jetting liquid column sprayed from a nozzle. A laser processing method using a laser processing apparatus for processing a workpiece, comprising the steps of: providing a cover for protecting the nozzle and the jetting liquid jet from the jetting of the jetting liquid injected between the nozzle and the workpiece; and the jetting liquid jet on the cover And irradiating the laser guided therein to form a hole through which the jetting liquid column can pass, and to process the workpiece by the laser guided into the jetting liquid column passing through the hole.

In the present invention constituted as described above, since the cover is provided between the nozzle and the workpiece, and the hole is formed in the cover by the laser guided in the jet liquid column, the jet liquid jet is injected into the workpiece through the formed hole. Thereafter, the workpiece is processed by a laser guided into the fractionation liquid column.

Since the hole is formed in the cover by the laser guided in the jetting liquid column, the diameter of the hole becomes almost the same diameter as the jetting liquid column. Therefore, during the laser processing, the gap between the jetting liquid column and the hole is suppressed to a minimum, and the liquid splashing after contacting the workpiece by the cover adheres to the nozzle, or touches the jetting liquid column between the nozzle and the cover. It can reliably prevent and the disturbance of the classification liquid column can be prevented. Thereby, laser processing can be performed, maintaining favorable processing efficiency, without reducing the transmission efficiency of a laser. In addition, since the hole of the cover is formed by the laser guided in the dividing liquid column, it is not necessary to align the hole with respect to the dividing liquid column, and a hole matching with the dividing liquid column can be formed at the correct position of the cover.

According to the present invention, in a laser processing apparatus for processing a workpiece by a laser guided in a jetting liquid column ejected from the nozzle, it is possible to prevent adhesion of liquid to the nozzle, protect the jetting liquid column, and improve the transmission efficiency of the laser. The laser processing apparatus which can be made, the manufacturing method of this laser processing apparatus, and a laser processing method can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic block diagram which shows the whole of the laser processing apparatus by 1st embodiment of this invention.
2 is an enlarged view of a part of the laser processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an enlarged view of a part of the laser processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiment of this invention is described with reference to an accompanying drawing. In addition, after 2nd Embodiment, the same code | symbol as 1st Embodiment is attached | subjected to drawing similar to 1st Embodiment, and the description is simplified or abbreviate | omitted.

[First Embodiment]

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1: is a schematic block diagram which shows the whole laser processing apparatus 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The laser processing apparatus 1 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention passes the laser processing head 2 and this laser processing head 2, and the optical apparatus 4 which irradiates a laser onto the to-be-processed object W And liquid jetting means 6 for jetting high-pressure water, which is a fractionation liquid, to the workpiece W. FIG.

The laser processing head 2 is provided with the housing 8 formed in the substantially cylindrical shape, and the nozzle 10 which injects the dividing liquid column F in the inside lower part of the housing 8 is provided. A part of the optical device 4 is accommodated in the upper part of the housing 8, and a part of the liquid jetting means 6 is provided in the lower part of the housing 8.

The optical apparatus 4 includes a laser optical system 12 for condensing a laser at a predetermined position and a laser oscillator 14 for injecting a laser into the laser optical system 12.

The laser optical system 12 guides the laser emitted from the laser oscillator 14 to the laser processing head 2 with an optical fiber or the like, and at the same time near the hole in the upper end of the nozzle 10 in the laser processing head 2. Configured to focus at a location. In addition, in FIG. 1, the laser optical system 12 is shown schematically, and only one condenser lens 16 which condenses a laser finally is shown.

The laser oscillator 14 is configured to generate a laser of a predetermined intensity. In this embodiment, although a green laser is used as a laser, the kind can be selected arbitrarily as long as it is a laser with low absorption rate which is hard to be absorbed by water.

The green laser is a double wave (SHG) YAG laser and the wavelength is 532 nm. Unlike YAG lasers (wavelength 1064 nm) and CO ₂ lasers (wavelength 10.6 μm), green lasers have the characteristics of being easy to pass through water. Therefore, green lasers are inexpensive as fractional liquids. Improve overall efficiency. Moreover, since it is hard to be absorbed by water, it becomes easy to guide a laser to the position of the opening vicinity of the nozzle 10 in the laser processing head 2 with high precision by suppressing generation | occurrence | production of a thermal lens. For this reason, damage to the nozzle 10 can be prevented and stable processing quality can be ensured.

The liquid ejecting means 6 includes a liquid supply device 18, a liquid processing device 20 that performs a process such as removing ions from a liquid from the liquid supply source 18, and a liquid supplied from the liquid supply source 18. A high pressure pump 22 pumped to the laser processing head 2, a high pressure filter 24 provided between the high pressure pump 22 and the laser processing head 2 to remove impurities and the like from the liquid, and a laser It is provided in the processing head 2, and has the liquid flow path 26 which guides the high pressure liquid sent from the high pressure pump 22 to the nozzle 10. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, water is used as the liquid.

2 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the nozzle 10 of the laser processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the cylindrical bracket 28 is attached to the lower part of the laser processing head 2, and the lower end of this bracket 28 protrudes below the lower end of the laser processing head 2. As shown in FIG. Inside the bracket 28, a cover 30 is provided to protect the nozzle 10 and the jetting liquid column F from contact with the work W and water from jumping out. The cover 30 is fixed to the upper surface of the cover attachment portion 32 fixed inside the bracket 28 on the work W side than the cover 30. The cover attachment part 32 is formed in the columnar shape, and the truncated cone trapezoidal hole 34 is formed in the center.

In addition, the cover attachment part 32 is not limited to what is arrange | positioned at the lower surface of the cover 30, For example, it is arrange | positioned above the cover 30, and the cover 30 is provided in the lower surface of a cover attachment part. It may be a structure for supporting and fixing.

The cover 30 is formed in a circular thin plate shape having a diameter substantially the same as the inner diameter of the bracket 28, and is placed on the surface of the nozzle attachment side of the cover attachment portion 32 to the cover attachment portion 32. It is fixed. Thus, the cover 30 is disposed between the nozzle 10 and the workpiece W. As shown in FIG. A through hole 36 is formed in the substantially center of the cover 30 through which the jet liquid column F injected from the nozzle 10 passes. The cover 30 is detachably installed from the bracket 28 and the cover attachment part 32.

At this time, the cover 30 is comprised from the material which can be processed by irradiating a laser, and is metal in this embodiment. The thickness of the cover 30 is preferably 5 µm or more and 1000 µm or less, more preferably 10 µm or more and 500 µm or less, and more preferably 20 µm or more and 300 µm or less. If the thickness of the cover 30 is thinner than 5 μm, the cover 30 may be swung when the liquid splashed from the workpiece W touches. In addition, if the thickness of the cover 30 is thicker than 1000 μm, the formation of the through hole 36 is not easy, and when the dividing liquor F reaches the cover 30, the flow of the dividing liquor F is increased. It affects, and there is a high possibility of disturbing the classification liquid column F.

Since the nozzle 10 and the cover 30 are disposed at a predetermined distance from each other, the space part 31 is located in an area surrounded by the lower surface of the nozzle 10, the upper surface of the cover 30, and the inner surface of the bracket 28. Is formed. The space part 31 is a jetting liquid column between the dimension L2 of the direction along the jetting liquid column F from the lower surface of the laser processing head 2 to the upper surface of the cover 30, and the opposite inner surface of the bracket 28. It has dimension (diameter) D of the direction orthogonal to (F), and is formed in the circumference form as a whole. At this time, the dimension L2 is 2 mm or more, and the dimension D is preferably 5 mm or more. In addition, the shape of this space part 31 is not limited to a cylindrical shape, For example, if it is a shape in which the space is formed between the lower surface of the laser processing head 2 and the upper surface of the cover 30, good.

The distance L1 from the top surface of the nozzle 10 to the top surface of the cover 30 is preferably 4 to 40 mm, and is about 20 mm in this embodiment. If the distance L1 is too small, the dimension L2 of the space portion 31 is also small, and water is accumulated by the surface tension between the lower surface of the nozzle 10 and the upper surface of the cover 30, and the nozzle ( There is a possibility that water is accumulated in the space 31 between the cover 10 and the cover 30. Further, if the distance L1 is too large, the dimension L2 in the direction along the jetting liquid column F of the bracket 28 of the space portion 31 becomes large, and the nozzle 10 is placed on the workpiece W. FIG. It becomes inaccessible. This makes it difficult to obtain good laser processing performance.

The through hole 36 of the cover 30 is formed by the laser guided by the jet liquid column F injected from the nozzle 10 by the laser processing apparatus 1. Therefore, the diameter of the through hole 36 becomes almost the same as the diameter of the dividing liquid column F. As shown in FIG.

At this time, the molding process of the through hole 36 may be performed at the manufacturing stage of the laser processing apparatus 1, for example. That is, in the manufacturing step of the laser processing apparatus 1, after manufacture and assembly of the laser processing head 2, the optical apparatus 4, the liquid injection means 6, etc. of the laser processing apparatus 1, a laser processing head Attach the bracket (28) to (2) and fix the cover (30) to the bracket (28). When the jet of liquid jet F is sprayed from the nozzle 10 to irradiate the laser, the jet of liquid jet F and the laser reach the cover 30 to process the cover 30 to form the through hole 36. . In this way, the production of the laser processing apparatus 1 may be completed.

Alternatively, the through hole 36 of the cover 30 may be formed as one step of laser processing when the laser processing apparatus W is actually performed on site after the laser processing apparatus 1 is installed. good. That is, the laser processing apparatus 1 is provided with the bracket 28 and the cover 30 or without the bracket 28 and the cover 30, but the through hole 36 is provided in the cover 30. Installed on site without formation. In the case where the cover 30 and the bracket 28 are not mounted at the site, they are provided so that the jet liquid jet F is sprayed, the laser is guided into the jet liquid jet F, and the cover 30 is irradiated. Thus, the through hole 36 is formed in the cover 30.

In addition, the diameter of the through-hole 36 is more than the diameter of the dividing liquid column F, and is preferably formed in the range of 20 times or less, more preferably 10 times or less of the diameter of the dividing liquid column F.

In the laser processing apparatus 1 comprised in this way, when processing the to-be-processed object W, the to-be-processed object W is mounted in the mounting table (not shown) of the nozzle 10 lower part. Next, when the laser is emitted from the laser oscillator 14, the laser enters the laser optical system 12 and is guided into the laser processing head 2. The laser is condensed near the position of the upper opening of the nozzle 10 by the condenser lens 16 of the laser optical system 12 or the like. On the other hand, the liquid jetting means 6 pumps water from the liquid supply source l8 to the high pressure pump 22 and passes the liquid flow passage 26 from the nozzle 10 to separate the workpiece liquid column F from the work W. Erupts towards you. At this time, the diameter of the jetted liquid column F ejected is slightly larger than the diameter of the hole of the nozzle 10. The jetting liquid column F reaches the workpiece W through the through hole 36 of the cover 30 and the hole 34 of the cover attachment part 32. The laser focused by the laser optical system 12 near the upper opening of the nozzle 10 is guided to the dividing liquid column F while totally reflecting the inside of the dividing liquid column F, and reaches the workpiece W to reach the workpiece W. ) Laser processing.

After the water of the dividing liquid column F comes into contact with the workpiece W, there is a case that it may bounce near the laser processing head 2, but the cover 30 provided between the nozzle 10 and the workpiece W is The nozzle 10 and the vicinity of the nozzle, i.e., the jetting liquid column F between the nozzle 10 and the cover 30 are protected to prevent the adhesion of water to the nozzle 10 and the disturbance of the jetting liquid column F.

According to this embodiment comprised in this way, the following outstanding effects can be acquired.

Since the cover 30 is provided between the nozzle 10 and the workpiece W, even when water is splashed after the jet liquid column F touches the workpiece W, the water to the nozzle 10 It is possible to prevent the adhesion and the jetting of the liquid jet F. As a result, the liquid jet F in a stable laminar flow state can be formed, and a decrease in the transmission efficiency of the laser can be prevented. This is particularly useful because it is possible to form a stable dividing liquid column F even in a deep digging process in which water bounces heavily from the workpiece W. FIG. In addition, since the cover 30 protects the fractionation liquid column F in the vicinity of the nozzle 10, the area immediately after the injection from the nozzle 10, which is important for forming a stable fractionation liquid column F, can be protected. It is possible to ensure the formation of a stable jet liquid column F. In addition, since it is possible to form a stable jet liquid column F, it is more resistant to disturbances to be thrown out, and to increase the set distance of the nozzle 10 from the workpiece W while maintaining good laser processing performance. Since it becomes possible, the freedom degree of distance setting of the nozzle 10 becomes high.

Since the through-hole 36 of the cover 30 is processed by the laser guided in the fractionation liquid column F of the laser processing apparatus 1, the penetration hole 36 which is substantially the same as the diameter of the fractionation liquid column F is formed. can do. Thereby, there is little gap between the dividing liquid column F and the through hole 36, and this gap can be suppressed to the minimum. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent water splashed from the processed portion of the workpiece W to pass through the through hole 36 to adhere to the nozzle 10 or to contact the fractionation liquid column F. FIG.

The through hole 36 of the cover 30 was guided in the jetting liquid column F of the laser processing apparatus 1 with the cover 30 interposed between the bracket 28 and the laser processing head 2. Since it forms by a laser, the through-hole 36 can be formed so that it may correspond completely to the position in which the classification liquid column F is formed. Therefore, unlike the case where a cover having a through hole formed in advance is provided in the laser processing head, for example, the position of the through hole 36 is fixed to the fractionation liquid column F with high accuracy without requiring positioning of the cover 30. Can match with road Therefore, manufacture and assembly of the laser processing apparatus 1 can be performed easily.

Since the thickness of the cover 30 is appropriately set, the through hole 36 can be easily formed in the cover 30 by the laser guided in the fractionation liquid column F. FIG. In addition, by setting the thickness of the cover 30, even when the jet liquid column F touches the cover 30, the warpage of the cover 30 is prevented while minimizing the influence on the stability of the jet liquid column F to a minimum. At the same time, it is possible to prevent warpage caused by hitting water that has been thrown out.

Since the distance L1 from the upper surface of the nozzle 10 to the upper surface of the cover 30 is set appropriately, and the dimensions L2 and D of the space portion 31 are set appropriately, the cover 30 and the nozzle There is no case that water collects by surface tension between (10). In addition, since the bracket 28 and the cover 30 do not protrude largely downward from the lower end of the laser processing head 2, the nozzle 10 can be brought close to the workpiece W, and the laser The processing performance is not impaired.

Since the cover 30 is detachably attached to the bracket 28, the cover 30 can be removed in order to replace or maintain the nozzle 10. In addition, after removing the cover 30, the cover 30, in which the through hole is not newly formed, is provided, and the through hole 36 is formed by laser irradiation, thereby again separating the liquid jet F and the through hole 36. The position can be adjusted reliably and accurately. Therefore, maintenance can be performed easily.

Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the laser processing apparatus 50 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment is provided with the air injection means 52 which injects an air jet toward the to-be-processed object W, the laser processing apparatus 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment Except for being different from the above, the structure is the same as that of the laser processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the nozzle 10 of the laser processing apparatus 50 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the laser processing apparatus 50 has the bracket 54 attached to the laser processing head 2 similarly to the laser processing apparatus 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment, and this bracket 54 The cover attachment part 58 for attaching the cover 56 is provided. In addition, a space 57 is formed above the cover 56 with the nozzle 10.

The air injection means 52 is formed in the air controller 62 and the cover attachment part 58 which controls the pressure of the air supply source 60 and the compressed air supplied from the air supply source 60, and through which the compressed air passes, The air path 64 and the air nozzle 66 which injects the compressed air in the air path 64 as air jet toward the processing part vicinity of the to-be-processed object W are provided. The air passage 64 is annularly formed outside the truncated cone trapezoidal hole 68 formed in the center of the cover attachment part 58. The air nozzle 66 communicates with the air passage 64 and the hole 68 and opens in the hole 68.

In the laser processing apparatus 50 comprised in this way, similarly to 1st Embodiment, the to-be-processed object is discharged from the nozzle 10 by the liquid injection means 6 through the through-hole 70 of the cover 56. It blows toward (W), the laser condensed by the laser optical system 12 near the upper end opening of the nozzle 10 is guide | induced into the dividing liquid column F, and the to-be-processed object W is laser-processed. The cover 56 prevents the water bounced off after contacting the workpiece W to attach to the nozzle 10 or to contact the fractionation liquid column F. FIG.

Compressed air supplied from the air source 60 is injected from the air nozzle 66 via the air passage 64. The air jet injected from the air nozzle 66 is sprayed toward the vicinity of the processing part (around the processing part) of the work W, and in the work W, the water that is thrown out is pressed toward the work W, Suppresses bounce. In addition, water accumulated in the processing portion of the workpiece W is pushed around the processing portion and discharged by the air jet.

According to this embodiment comprised in this way, in addition to the effect acquired by the laser processing apparatus 1 in 1st Embodiment, the following effects can be acquired.

Since the air injection means 52 is provided in the laser processing apparatus 50, it can suppress that water jumps out from the to-be-processed object W. FIG. As a result, the adhesion of water to the nozzle 10 and the confusion of the jet liquid column F can be prevented even more reliably.

Moreover, since the air injection means 52 injects an air jet toward the process part vicinity of the to-be-processed object W, the water gathered in the process part can be removed. This is particularly useful in the depth digging process in which water easily collects in the processing portion of the workpiece W, since the water of the processing portion can be actively removed by an air jet.

This invention is not limited to the above embodiment, For example, a cover does not need to be removable with respect to a bracket. The cover may be fixed to the bracket, for example, and the bracket may be provided to be detachably attached to the laser processing head. In addition, the cover and the bracket do not need to be detachably attached to the laser processing head. In addition, the cover is not limited to the structure to be mounted with the bracket interposed therebetween, and may be attached directly to the laser processing head, for example.

The hole formed in the cover is not limited to being processed by a laser guided into the jetting liquid column. The hole may be formed in the cover by a suitable processing method in advance, and the cover may be provided between the nozzle and the workpiece. Even in such a case, it is possible to prevent the jetting liquid splashed on the nozzle during processing of the workpiece.

Also in this case, the diameter of the hole is equal to or larger than the diameter of the fractionation liquor, preferably 20 times or less than the diameter of the fractionation liquor, and more preferably 10 times or less.

The shape, dimensions, materials, and the like of the cover can be arbitrarily set according to the specifications, processing conditions, and the like of the laser processing apparatus, and are not limited to the forms described in the above-described embodiments. That is, the shape of the cover is not limited to a circle, for example, and any shape such as a rectangle can be adopted. The position of the cover with respect to the nozzle, for example, the distance from the upper surface of the nozzle to the upper surface of the cover is not limited to the range described in the above-described embodiments, and it is possible to ensure good processing performance and also to adhere the nozzle to the nozzle. It can be set arbitrarily as long as it can be prevented. In addition, the diameter of the hole of the cover may be larger than 20 times the diameter of the fractionation liquid column as long as it can prevent adhesion of the fractionation liquid to the nozzle, and can be arbitrarily set according to processing conditions and the like.

Although the bracket which mounts a cover is formed in cylindrical shape in embodiment mentioned above, it is not limited to this, For example, it may be a foot-shaped shape corresponding to the shape of a laser processing head.

The shape of the space portion formed between the nozzle and the cover is not limited to the circumferential shape, and may be any shape. For example, when the bracket for installing the cover is formed in the shape of a footnote, the space portion is also formed in the shape of a footnote. There is a case. Moreover, although the dimension of the space part, ie, the dimension of the direction along a jetting liquid column, and the direction substantially orthogonal to a jetting liquid column, the range as described in the above-mentioned embodiment is preferable, it is not limited to this, but it is not limited to this. It can set arbitrarily according to shape, arrangement | positioning, etc. In the case where the space portion is formed in a shape other than the circumferential shape, it is preferable that the dimension in the direction substantially orthogonal to the jet liquid column be set so that the minimum distance from the jet liquid column to the outer edge of the space part is appropriate.

The air injection means may not be provided, for example, when the cover can be sufficiently prevented from adhering to the nozzles by simply providing a cover. In other words, the air injection means may not necessarily be provided.

[Example]

In order to confirm the effect of the present invention, the following experiment was carried out.

Example 1

Piercing of the metal plate was performed using the laser processing apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment. As the workpiece W, a plate member made of SUS was used, and a thickness t of 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.6 mm, and 1.0 mm was used. The hole diameter of the nozzle 10 was 100 micrometers, the pressure of the water conveyed from the high pressure pump 22 was 10 MPa, the laser frequency was 13 kHz, and the laser output was 40W.

While the mounting table of the laser processing apparatus 1 was stopped, the workpiece | work W was irradiated to the to-be-processed object W, and it observed whether the through-hole was formed in the metal plate. Ten tests were carried out for the workpieces W of each thickness.

Comparative Example 1

Pierce processing similar to Example 1 was performed in the state which removed the bracket 28 and the cover 30 from the laser processing apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment. Ten tests were conducted for the thickness t of the workpiece W to be 0.3 mm. Other experimental conditions are the same as in Example 1.

[Contrast of results of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1]

In Example 1, the through-hole was formed in 10 out of 10 test pieces by irradiating a laser to the workpiece | work W with thickness t of 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.6 mm for 1 second. In addition, the workpiece W having a thickness t of 1.0 mm was irradiated with a laser for 5 seconds to form through holes for eight of the ten test pieces.

On the other hand, in Comparative Example 1, through-holes were not formed in any of the ten test pieces in both the case where the laser was irradiated for 1 second and the laser was irradiated for 5 seconds for a thickness t of 0.3 mm.

As mentioned above, it turned out that the laser processing by the laser processing apparatus 1 in Example 1 is better in laser transmission efficiency than the laser processing in the comparative example (1), and the laser processing performance was excellent.

[Example 2]

Using the laser processing apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment, the linear groove digging process of the metal material was implemented. As the work W, SUS was used. The hole diameter of the nozzle 10 is 60 micrometers, the pressure of the water conveyed from the high pressure pump 22 is 18 MPa, the laser frequency is 10 kHz, and the laser output is 15 W, and the mounting stand of the laser processing apparatus 1 is conveyed. A predetermined number of times of reciprocation was performed while linearly moving at a speed of 2 mm / sec, and a process of forming a linear groove in the workpiece W was performed.

Comparative Example 2

The same straight groove cutting process as Example 2 was performed in the state which removed the bracket 28 and the cover 30 from the laser processing apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment. Other experimental conditions are the same as in Example 2.

[Contrast of Example 2 and Comparative Example 2]

In Example 2, grooves having a depth of about 1.8 mm were formed by reciprocating the laser five times. In addition, by reciprocating the laser ten times, grooves having a depth of about 2.3 mm were formed.

On the other hand, in Comparative Example 2, grooves having a depth of about 1.6 mm were formed by reciprocating the laser five times. In addition, by reciprocating the laser ten times, grooves having a depth of about 1.7 mm were formed.

As mentioned above, in Example 2, when the reciprocation frequency of laser irradiation is increased, it turns out that the depth of the groove | channel formed increases accordingly. On the other hand, in the comparative example 2, even if the reciprocation frequency of laser irradiation was increased, the depth of the groove hardly increased. That is, in the laser processing apparatus of the comparative example 2, even if the reciprocation frequency of laser irradiation is increased, the groove of a predetermined depth or more cannot be formed.

As mentioned above, it turned out that the laser processing by the laser processing apparatus 1 in Example 2 is better in the transmission efficiency of laser processing than laser processing in the comparative example 2, and was excellent in laser processing performance.

1, 50 laser processing devices
2 laser cutting head
10 nozzles
14 laser oscillators
28, 54 bracket
30, 56 covers
36, 70 through hole
52 Air injection means
F classification liquid column
W Workpiece

Claims (8)

A laser processing apparatus having a laser oscillator for generating a laser and a nozzle for injecting a jetting liquid onto a workpiece, wherein the workpiece is processed by a laser guided into the jetting liquid column injected from the nozzle,
A cover disposed between the nozzle and the workpiece and protecting the nozzle and the jet liquid column from the jet of the jet liquid;
The cover is formed with a hole through which the jet of liquid jetted from the nozzle passes. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hole is formed by a laser guided into the jetting liquid column ejected from the nozzle. The distance from an upper surface of the nozzle to an upper surface of the cover is 4 to 40 mm, and the upper surface of the cover has a dimension in a direction along the jetting liquid column of 2 mm or more. The laser processing apparatus characterized by the space part whose dimension of the direction orthogonal to a liquid column is 5 mm or more. The laser processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a diameter of the hole is equal to or larger than the diameter of the jet liquid column and 20 times or less than the diameter of the jet liquid column. The laser processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cover is formed in a thin plate shape. The air injection means according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising air injection means disposed between the cover and the workpiece and for injecting an air jet toward the workpiece. Laser processing device. A method of manufacturing a laser processing apparatus comprising a laser oscillator for generating a laser and a nozzle for injecting fractionation liquid onto a workpiece, wherein the workpiece is processed by a laser guided into the fractionation liquid column injected from the nozzle,
Providing a cover between the nozzle and the workpiece to protect the nozzle and the jetting liquid jet from the jetting of the jetted liquid jetted; and irradiating the cover with a laser guided in the jetting liquid jet And forming a hole through which the jetting liquid column can pass. A laser processing method comprising a laser oscillator for generating a laser and a nozzle for injecting fractionation liquid into a workpiece, and processing the workpiece by a laser guided into the fractionation liquid column injected from the nozzle,
Providing a cover between the nozzle and the workpiece to protect the nozzle and the jetting liquid jet from the jetting of the jetted liquid jetted; and irradiating the cover with a laser guided in the jetting liquid jet And a step of forming a hole through which the jetting liquid column can pass, and processing the workpiece by a laser guided into the jetting liquid column passing through the hole.

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