KR20110096699A - Laser slotting apparatus with an auto-focusing laser beam - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a laser cutting device in which the focus of a laser beam is automatically adjusted, the frame comprising an outer body as a support skeleton; A cashier / conveyor, which is continuously mounted between the input and output sides of the cut material of the frame, and is configured to transfer the cut material introduced from the input side to the cutting side, cut it, and discharge it to the output side; A laser beam generator mounted on one side of the frame to generate a laser beam used to cut the cut material; A condensing head installed on the frame so as to be adjacent to the cut material introduced from the input side and cutting the cut material by the laser beam transmitted from the laser beam generator; And an autofocus controller configured to compensate the displacement of the cutting material in real time by operating the light collecting head vertically according to the vertical displacement of the cutting material with respect to the light collecting head. The displacement sensor detects the vertical displacement of the cutting material by the displacement sensor and automatically compensates the displacement value of the cutting material in real time through an auto focus controller that operates the laser focusing head in the vertical direction according to the detected displacement value. Therefore, the cutting quality of the cutting material cut by the laser beam can be greatly improved.

Description

Laser slotting apparatus with an auto-focusing laser beam

The present invention relates to a laser cutting device, and more particularly, in the cutting of a cutting material such as an LCD polarizing film using a laser beam, the vertical cutting of the cutting material generated due to vibration, etc. The present invention relates to a laser cutting device in which the focus of a laser beam is automatically adjusted to be adjusted in real time according to a direction displacement.

In general, a processing apparatus using a laser is to collect a laser beam generated from a laser source to process a processing object such as a metal material, and is widely used to cut a material such as a film that is weak to heat such as a film and requires precise processing.

Recently, a device for cutting an LCD polarizing film using a laser beam has been developed one after another. The device includes a protective film, a protective layer (TAC), a polarizer (PVA), a protective layer (TAC), an adhesive, and a release film. It is widely used to cut the LCD polarizing film composed of a combination of these, the LCD polarizing film cutting process has been applied to the wooden cutting method in the past, this method is to place a variety of blades in the frame of a predetermined cutting space As a cutting method to be used, it is known as a suitable method for manufacturing a large amount of small LCD panel due to the advantage of high speed processing.

 However, due to the increasing size of LCDs and the increasing price competition, it is difficult to produce large wooden dies, due to the deterioration of the quality of the cutting surface where burrs or cracks occur due to the heterojunction of polymer film, and the addition of grinding and cleaning processes. Limitations of mechanical processing methods, such as increased production costs, have emerged.

Therefore, LCD polarizing film cutting and slitting equipment using a laser capable of non-contact and clean processing has been proposed as an alternative to solve this problem. However, such laser cutting equipment is a cutting material due to vibration generated during transfer. When the film is vertically oscillated vertically and downward, the laser beam irradiated onto the surface of the film cannot be prevented from being shifted out of focus. Therefore, the quality of the cut surface of the film is greatly reduced.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 1, the laser beam generated by the laser beam generator 101 is homogenized by the optical system 103 to form an optimal laser beam 105 necessary for cutting, thereby forming a cut material such as a film ( 107) has been proposed in the domestic application No. 10-2008-68437 to reduce the thermal damage, to improve the cross-sectional quality by making the shape of the cutting plane flat and uniform, the laser by the optical system 103 at this time The beam focusing adjustment is not an operation of compensating the vertical displacement of the cutting material 107 due to vibration in real time, and the cutting device still has the cutting material 107 when the cutting material 107 vibrates up and down. Since the focus of the laser beam irradiated onto the surface cannot be automatically adjusted in real time, the machining of the cutting material 107 due to the vibration displacement, that is, the cutting quality has a problem that cannot be avoided.

The present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional laser cutting device as described above, when the cutting material such as LCD polarizing film to be cut by the laser beam is continuously conveyed to the light collecting head irradiated with the laser beam By moving in real time in conjunction with the vertical displacement of the cutting material, the focus of the laser beam irradiated on the surface of the cutting material is automatically adjusted even if the cutting material fluctuates up and down due to vibration generated during transfer. The aim is to improve quality.

The present invention to achieve the above object is a frame forming an outer body as a support skeleton; A cashier / conveyor, which is continuously mounted between the input and output sides of the cut material of the frame, and is configured to transfer the cut material introduced from the input side to the cutting side, cut it, and discharge it to the output side; A laser beam generator mounted on one side of the frame to generate a laser beam used to cut the cut material; A condensing head installed on the frame so as to be adjacent to the cut material introduced from the input side and cutting the cut material by the laser beam transmitted from the laser beam generator; And an automatic focus controller configured to compensate the displacement of the cutting material in real time by operating the light collecting head vertically according to the vertical displacement of the cutting material with respect to the light collecting head. Provided is a laser cutting device.

The automatic focus controller may include: a displacement sensor formed integrally with the condensing head and configured to detect a vertical displacement of the cutting material with respect to the condensing head in real time; An operation control unit for controlling the operation of the condensing head in real time according to the displacement of the cutting material detected by the displacement sensor; And an operating unit mounted between the frame and the light collecting head and operated according to a control command transmitted from the operation control unit to move the light collecting head in a vertical direction.

In addition, the operation unit preferably includes any one of an ultrasonic motor, an AC servo motor, a linear motor, or a step motor as a driving means.

According to the laser cutting device in which the focus of the laser beam is automatically adjusted according to the present invention, the vertical displacement of the cutting material cut by the laser beam irradiated from the focusing head is detected by a displacement sensor, Therefore, the light collecting head can be interlocked in real time, so that the displacement value of the cutting material due to rocking is compensated immediately even if the cutting material being transported for cutting is oscillated vertically, i.e., up and down due to vibration generated during transport. Therefore, since the focus of the laser beam irradiated onto the surface of the cutting material is automatically adjusted, the distance between the condensing head and the cutting material is always kept constant so that the cutting material can be cut without cutting defects caused by the laser beam being out of focus. Thus, the cutting quality of the cutting material can be greatly improved.

In addition, since an ultrasonic motor or the like is used as an operation unit for moving the light collecting head in the vertical direction in association with the displacement value of the cutting material, the moving responsiveness of the light collecting head to be interlocked according to the displacement of the cutting material can be improved. It is possible to minimize the deterioration of cutting quality due to the operation delay.

1 is a view schematically showing a cutting tip portion of a conventional laser cutting device.
2 is a schematic front view of a laser cutting device in which the focus of the laser is automatically adjusted according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a side view showing in detail the cutting side of the cashier and the transfer machine shown in FIG.
Figure 4 is a block diagram showing a laser beam autofocus control process by the autofocus controller of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the focusing head of the present invention to automatically adjust the focus of the laser beam by the autofocus controller in accordance with the displacement of the cutting material.
6 is a perspective view showing in detail the light collecting head and the autofocus regulator shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a graph for showing a reaction rate at which an operation value follows a target value when the light collecting head is operated by dividing the cutting head into 10 steps for a displacement of the cutting material of 200 μm. FIG.
8 is a graph showing the upper value of FIG. 7 in detail.

Hereinafter, a laser cutting apparatus for automatically adjusting the focus of a laser according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The laser cutting device of the present invention, as schematically shown by reference numeral 1 in Fig. 2, is largely frame 3, cashier 5, laser beam generator 7, condensing head 9, and autofocus. Consists of a regulator 11, these components are described in detail below.

The frame 3 forms a supporting skeleton as a part of the outer body of the laser cutting device 1 according to the present invention, as shown in part in FIGS. 2 and 3. It is disposed on the process line as part of the overall process for processing the cutting material 10, such as.

The cashier and feeder 5 is a part for inserting, transporting, and discharging the cutting material 10, and disposing the cutting material 10 to be cut on the input side 21 of the frame 3, for example, in a roll shape. On the other hand, the cutting material 10 cut | disconnected on the output side 22 of the frame 3 is similarly arrange | positioned in roll shape, and the cutting material 10 arrange | positioned in this way is carried out at the input side 21, and the condensing head 9 for cutting is carried out. It is discharged to the output side 22 via the adjacent cutting side 23.

To this end, the cashier and feeder 5 is framed along the transport path of the cutting material 10 from the input side 21 to the output side 22 via the cutting side 23, as shown in Figs. (3) As a plurality of feed rolls 25 are installed at any position on the bar, the entire feed roll 25 shown in FIG. 2 may be arranged in various forms in addition to the illustrated one as a simplified example. Accordingly, the to-be-cut material 10 wound on the feed roll 27 is unwound in turn and cut in the longitudinal direction while passing through the condensing head 9 on the cutting side 23, and then wound on the storage reel 28 to be rolled again. In this case, when the cut portion of the cutting material 10 is reduced by one, two storage reels 28 are required.

The laser beam generator 7 generates a laser beam used to cut the cutting material 10 and supplies the laser beam generator to the condensing head 9, which is movable as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the movable table 31 moves horizontally along the pair of rails 29, that is, at right angles to the conveying direction of the cutting material 10, as shown in FIG. 2. It is mounted on the frame 3 so as to be movable, and its internal configuration is the same as that of a general laser beam generator, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The condensing head 9 is a means for irradiating the cutting material 10 with the laser beam supplied from the laser beam generator 7 and cutting it. The movable table 31 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. Bar is mounted on one side of the frame 3, the movable bracket 49 is installed on the movable table 31 at an upstream end of the movable table 31 so as to be movable in a direction crossing the cutting material 10, thereby allowing the movable table 31 to move. Relative movement is possible, and relative movement is also possible with respect to the other condensing head 9. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, since the cutting member 10 of the frame 3 is disposed adjacent to the upper portion of the cutting member 10, the laser beam generator 7 generates the reflector 33. The to-be-cut material 10 is cut | disconnected by concentrating and irradiating the to-be-cut material 10 by the laser beam reflected by the ().

At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the light collecting head 9 may be provided in one or more pieces, which means that the cutting material 10 which is transferred to the cutting side 23 in the longitudinal direction, that is, the cutting material ( In order to cut the cutting material 10 of one row into two lines in one process by cutting in the same direction as the conveying direction of 10), in which case the two light collecting heads 9 shown in FIG. The head 9 is used to trim the left and right sides of the cutting material 10 divided in two by the condensing head 9 in the middle.

The auto focus controller 11 is a portion for moving the light collecting head 9 vertically, that is, up and down relative to the movable table 31, that is, the movable bracket 49, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. Likewise, the frame 3, that is, provided between the movable table 31 and the light collecting head 9, when the cutting material 10 causes displacement in the vertical direction due to internal and external factors, condensing in real time according to this displacement. By changing the vertical position of the head 9, that is, the height, it serves to automatically focus the laser beam irradiated from the light collecting head 9 onto the cutting material 10.

To this end, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the autofocus controller 11 is composed of a displacement sensor 13, an operation control unit 15, and an operation unit 17, which will be described in more detail. If it is as follows.

The displacement sensor 13 is a means for detecting the vertical displacement of the cutting material 10 with respect to the light collecting head 9 in real time, and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 to interlock with the light collecting head 9. It is attached to one side of the condensing head 9, and measures the distance to the current cutting material 10 and compares it with the standard distance to the measured reference position P to measure the displacement of the cutting material 10 in real time. It is supposed to detect. That is, when it is detected by the displacement sensor 13 that the distance to the cutting material 10 is shorter than the distance to the reference position P, as shown in FIG. 5, the operation control unit 15 performs the shorter distance. It is determined that the cutting material 10 is raised upwards, and if it is detected that the cutting material 10 is longer, the cutting material 10 is determined to be lowered by the length of the cutting material 10.

The motion controller 15 is a part for controlling the light collecting head 9 to be operated up and down in real time according to the vertical displacement of the cutting material 10 detected by the displacement sensor 13 as described above. The bar is installed in any of the above, it serves as a kind of motion controller for controlling the vertical operation of the light collecting head (9). To this end, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a signal generator 35 generating an operation command of the light collecting head 9 and a PID controller 37 for increasing the responsiveness of the distance compensation signal transmitted from the displacement sensor 13 are included. In accordance with the control value input through the user interface 39, such as a control panel, setting the initial position and the standby position of the condensing head 9, the start and stop of automatic compensation for the condensing head 9, the condensing head ( 9) It acts as an operation error and critical position detection.

The operation unit 17 is a portion for moving the light collecting head 9 in the vertical direction according to the command of the operation control unit 15 as described above, as shown in Figs. It is mounted between the movable bracket 49 and the condensing head 9 of 31 so as to allow the condensing head 9 to be vertically movable on one side of the movable table 31, that is, the upstream edge portion. Therefore, the operating unit 17 moves the light collecting head 9 vertically in real time according to a control command from the operation control unit 15, in which case the operating unit 17 is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. As described above, various types of driving means, including an ultrasonic motor, may be employed. In addition to the ultrasonic motor, an AC servo motor, a linear motor, a step motor, or the like, capable of feeding back the displacement of the condensing head 9, may be operated. Can be employed as a driving means.

On the other hand, the operating unit 17 according to the present embodiment employing the ultrasonic motor as a driving means is a substrate 41, a fixed plate 43, a moving plate 45, and a pair of upper and lower, as shown in more detail in FIG. Of the ultrasonic motor 47, wherein the substrate 41 is fixed to one end of the movable table 31 through the movable bracket 49 as shown in FIG. 5 so that the operating portion 17 is cut. Allow movement in the direction crossing (10). In addition, the fixed plate 43 is attached to one side of the substrate 41 serves to guide the vertical movement of the moving plate 45, the moving plate 45 is superimposed and guided above the fixed plate 43 is an ultrasonic motor While moving in the vertical direction by the (47) to serve to move the light collecting head (9) fixed by the holding block 51 on the outer surface in the vertical direction. In addition, the ultrasonic motors 47, which are paired up and down, are general ultrasonic motors of linear motion type, respectively, and move the moving plate 45 vertically and vertically by fingertips (not shown) protruding from the tip. .

Now, the operation of the laser cutting device in which the focus of the laser beam is automatically adjusted according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

In order to cut the cutting material 10 such as an LCD polarizing film by the cutting device of the present invention, the cutting material wound in a roll form on the input side 21 of the cashier and feeder 5 as shown in FIG. 10 is rotatably arrange | positioned, the front-end | tip part is unwound, and it winds around the storage reel 28 arrange | positioned at the output side 22 via several feed rolls 25, and is fixed.

Then, the movable table 31 and the movable bracket 49 are moved in order to align the light collecting head 9 at the origin, and then the irradiation of the laser beam is started simultaneously with the transfer of the cutting material 10. The to-be-cut material 10, which is conveyed to the cutting side 23 of the cashier and feeder 5, is continuously cut in the lateral direction by the laser beam irradiated from the light collecting head 9.

The two strands of cutting material 10 continuously conveyed to the output side 22 of the cashier and feeder 5 by the feed roll 25 while being cut in this way are wound separately on the corresponding storage reels 28, respectively. And the series of cutting operations is completed in this way.

By the way, in the process of cutting the cutting material 10 as described above, due to mechanical vibration occurring in the cashier and feeder 5 or the tension change of the cutting material 10 due to the speed synchronous difference between the feed rolls 25. Due to the vertical displacement as shown schematically in FIG. 5 in the cutting material 10 traveling through the cutting side 23, the displacement of the cutting material 10 is applied to the autofocus controller 11. It is automatically compensated in real time by, first, the displacement value of the to-be-cut material 10 is detected by the displacement sensor 13 is transmitted to the operation control unit 15.

The displacement value transmitted to the operation control unit 15 is greatly increased in response after passing through the PID control unit 37 and then transmitted to the signal generation unit 35 to instruct the operation unit 17 in a vertical direction in real time. In this way, the operation amount applied to the operation unit 17 by the operation control unit 15 is controlled by the PID control unit 37 to immediately approach the target value, for example, as shown in the graph shown in FIG. When the manipulated variable is divided into 10 steps for a displacement of about 200 μm, as shown in detail in FIG. Since it follows the displacement value of (10), it is possible to move the light collecting head 9 up and down without delay when a displacement occurs in the cutting material 10.

1: Laser cutting device that the laser beam focus is automatically adjusted
3: frame 5: cashier
7: laser beam generator 9: condensing head
10: material to be cut 11: auto focus controller
13: displacement sensor 15: motion control unit
17: operating part 21: input side
22: output side 23: cutting side
25: feed roll 27: feed roll
28: storage reel 29: rail
31: movable table 33: reflector
35: signal generator 37: PID control unit
39: user interface 41: substrate
43: fixed plate 45: moving plate
47: ultrasonic motor 49: movable bracket
51: Gripping block

Claims (3)

A frame 3 constituting an outer body as a support skeleton;
The cutting material 10 of the frame 3 is continuously mounted between the input and output sides 21 and 22 and the cutting material 10 fed from the input side 21 to the cutting side 23. A cashier and feeder 5 which is cut and discharged to the output side 22;
A laser beam generator (7) mounted on one side of the frame (3) to generate a laser beam used for cutting the cut material (10);
The cutting material 10 is mounted on the frame 3 so as to be adjacent to the cutting material 10 introduced from the input side 21 by the laser beam transmitted from the laser beam generator 7. A condensing head 9 for cutting; And
Automatic focusing to compensate for the displacement of the cutting material 10 in real time by operating the light collecting head 9 vertically according to the vertical displacement of the cutting material 10 with respect to the light collecting head 9. Adjuster (11); characterized in that consisting of a laser cutting device that is automatically adjusted the focus of the laser beam. The method according to claim 1,
The auto focus controller 11,
A displacement sensor (13) formed integrally with the condensing head (9) to detect in real time a vertical displacement of the cutting material (10) with respect to the condensing head (9);
An operation control unit 15 for controlling the operation of the condensing head 9 in real time according to the displacement of the cutting member 10 sensed by the displacement sensor 13; And
An operating unit 17 mounted between the frame 3 and the light collecting head 9 and operated according to a control command transmitted from the operation control unit 15 to move the light collecting head 9 in the vertical direction. Laser cutting device that is automatically adjusted the focus of the laser beam, characterized in that consisting of. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The operating unit (17) is a laser cutting device that automatically adjusts the focus of the laser beam, characterized in that it comprises any one of an ultrasonic motor, AC servo motor, linear motor, or step motor as a drive means.

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