KR20190052930A - Drying Apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a moisture evaporation apparatus and a method thereof and, more specifically, to a moisture evaporation apparatus and a method thereof, heating only a region of an object to be welded to evaporate moisture attached on a surface using a vacuum chamber and laser. To this end, the present invention provides the apparatus for evaporating the moisture attached on the surface of the object, comprising: the vacuum chamber holding the object; a laser beam oscillator oscillating a laser beam to heat the surface of the object; a laser scan unit reflecting the laser beam oscillated by the laser beam oscillator to determine a position to which the laser beam is projected; and a control unit controlling operation of the laser beam oscillator and the laser scan unit, wherein the vacuum chamber includes a laser beam permeation window through which the laser beam reflected by the laser scan unit is permeated, and the control unit controls the laser beam oscillator and the laser scan unit to get the laser beam to be projected on a preset region of the surface of the object such that the moisture attached on the preset region is evaporated and the preset regions correspond to the region, to be welded, among the surface of the object.

Description

[0001] Drying Apparatus and Method [0002]

More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for evaporating moisture attached to a surface by heating only a region to be welded by using a vacuum chamber and a laser .

In the case of laser welding of metal, formation of the inner pores of the metal often causes a problem of quality defects. Particularly, when performing laser welding of an aluminum alloy, pores generated in the welding region become more problematic.

On the other hand, the pores uniformly formed on the welded metal do not greatly affect the strength of the joint, but when the pores are locally concentrated or the pore size is large, the strength of the joints is greatly influenced, Is a very important task. The main cause of this pore generation is hydrogen generated during welding, and especially the generation of hydrogen has a great influence on the welding of aluminum alloy. The pores are generated when the aluminum alloy solidifies at a temperature lower than the solubility of hydrogen when the aluminum alloy is in a high-temperature molten state, and hydrogen gas generated at that time is not suspended on the surface and remains in the aluminum alloy or on the surface.

Hydrogen dissolved when the aluminum alloy melts may be varied. Of these, hydrogen dissolved in the base material, water adhering to the surface, moisture adhering to the oxide film, moisture in the protective gas, and moisture penetrating in the air are main sources.

There are various methods to remove the moisture adhering to the surface of the hydrogen generating source. When the surface of the metal is wiped off or dried by the dryer, the water is not completely removed and the time is also long. In addition, even if the method of directly heating the metal is used, the metal surface is required to be maintained at a high temperature of about 250 ° C or more for a long period of time, and thus the efficiency is very low.

Among the methods of heating, when metal is put into a vacuum and heated to 200 ° C or higher, moisture can be effectively removed in a shorter time.

To accomplish this, the object to be welded may be placed in the vacuum chamber and the entire vacuum chamber may be heated. However, this method also removes the moisture adhering to the non-welded area, so that unnecessary energy is consumed and the time and cost burden is very large.

Therefore, it is required to develop a water evaporation apparatus and method for heating only a welding region of an object by heating only a welding region.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0106119 (published on December 17, 2004)

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem [8] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a water evaporation apparatus and a method thereof.

Specifically, the object of the present invention is to efficiently remove water adhering to a welding area of an object.

Further, the object of the present invention is to reduce the generation of hydrogen during welding by removing moisture more rapidly by heating the welding region of the object in a vacuum state.

The object of the present invention is to reduce unnecessary energy consumption by heating only the welding area, not heating the entire object.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a water evaporation device that can reduce time and cost by using a vacuum chamber that encloses only a part of an object to make a vacuum state.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are not intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It can be understood.

As one embodiment for realizing the above-described object, there is provided an apparatus for evaporating moisture attached to a surface of an object, comprising: a vacuum chamber in which an object is accommodated; A laser beam oscillator for oscillating a laser beam for heating a surface of an object; A laser scanning unit which reflects a laser beam emitted from a laser beam oscillator and determines a position where the laser beam is irradiated; And a control unit for controlling operation of the laser beam oscillator and the laser scanning unit, wherein the vacuum chamber further comprises a laser beam transmission window through which the laser beam reflected by the laser scanning unit is transmitted, And the laser beam oscillator and the laser scanning unit are controlled so as to irradiate the laser beam oscillator and the laser scanning unit to a predetermined region of the surface of the substrate, Is provided.

In addition, the laser beam oscillator may include any one of a diode laser beam oscillator, a solid laser beam oscillator, a liquid laser beam oscillator, a gas laser beam oscillator, and a fiber laser beam oscillator.

The laser scanning unit also includes one of a galvanometer scanner, a polygon mirror scanner, and an XY table.

Further, the control unit is configured to control the laser beam oscillator so that at least one of the size and shape of the laser beam cross section is determined corresponding to the predetermined area.

Further, the vacuum chamber may receive only a part of the object, and a part of the object to be accommodated may include a predetermined area of the object surface.

Also, the vacuum chamber includes a vane pump for rotating the plate connected to the rotor to discharge the internal air to the outside to make the inside of the vacuum chamber vacuum; And a solenoid valve for opening and closing the valve by using the electromagnetic force of the electromagnetic coil to determine whether to allow the vacuum chamber to be vented.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of evaporating moisture attached to a surface of an object, the method comprising: a first step of receiving an object in a vacuum chamber; A second step of bringing the inside of the vacuum chamber into a vacuum state; A third step of oscillating the laser beam using a laser beam oscillator; And a fourth step of evaporating moisture adhered to a predetermined area by irradiating the laser beam to a predetermined area of the surface of the object using a laser scanning unit that reflects the oscillated laser beam and irradiates the surface of the object with the laser beam And the predetermined region corresponds to a region to be welded on the surface of the object.

The laser scanning unit also includes one of a galvanometer scanner, a polygon mirror scanner, and an XY table.

It is also possible to oscillate so that at least one of the size and shape of the cross section of the laser beam is determined corresponding to the predetermined area.

The vacuum chamber includes a vane pump for discharging internal air to the outside by rotating the plate connected to the rotor to make the inside of the vacuum chamber vacuum; And a vacuum solenoid valve for opening and closing the valve by using the electromagnetic force of the electromagnetic coil to determine whether the vacuum chamber is ventilated.

The present invention can provide a user with a water evaporation apparatus and method for an object. Specifically, the object of the present invention is to efficiently remove water adhering to a welding area of an object.

Further, by heating the welding region of the object in a vacuum state, moisture can be removed more quickly, thereby reducing hydrogen generation during welding.

In addition, unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced by heating only the welding area, not heating the entire object.

In addition, it is possible to provide the user with a water evaporation device which can reduce the time and cost by using a vacuum chamber that encloses only a part of the object, so that a vacuum state is required.

It should be understood, however, that the effects obtained by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs It will be possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serve to provide a further understanding of the technical idea of the invention, It should not be construed as limited.
Fig. 1 shows a conventional embodiment in which an object is placed in a vacuum chamber and heated to evaporate water adhering to the object.
Figure 2 shows a water vaporization device using a galvanometer scanner according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 shows a water vaporization device using a polygon mirror scanner in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 shows a water vaporization device using a vacuum chamber to receive only a portion of an object in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for evaporating moisture attached to an object in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

In order to reduce the hydrogen porosity that occurs when welding the object, the moisture attached to the object must be removed.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional embodiment in which an object is placed in a vacuum chamber and heated to evaporate water adhered to the object. Conventionally, in order to remove such moisture, an object is placed in a vacuum chamber as shown in FIG. 1, . However, since this method takes a long time and heats the entire vacuum chamber, the heating cost is also a problem. Therefore, we propose a time-and cost-efficient water evaporation system by heating only the welding area of the object, which is a problem in welding, and removing only the water attached to the area.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the embodiment described below does not unduly limit the contents of the present invention described in the claims, and the entire configuration described in this embodiment is not necessarily essential as the solution means of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a water vaporization device using a galvanometer scanner according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the water evaporation apparatus may include a vacuum chamber 100, a laser beam oscillator 200, a laser scanning unit 300, a controller 500, and the like.

First, the vacuum chamber 100 refers to a space in which the inside becomes a vacuum. The vacuum chamber 100 may include a laser transmission window 110, a vane pump 120, a vacuum solenoid valve 130, and the like.

The laser transmission window 110 is configured to transmit the laser beam into the vacuum chamber 100 because a laser beam to be irradiated to an object is generated from the outside.

Next, the vane pump 120 is a pump for making the inside of the vacuum chamber 100 to be evacuated. The vane pump 120 corresponds to a rotary pump and is also referred to as an eccentric pump. In the cylindrical casing, there is an eccentric rotor, a plate-like collar is contained in the groove, and the vane is rotated in close contact with the wall by the centrifugal force or the tension of the spring.

On the other hand, when moisture adhering to the welding portion of the object is evaporated in a vacuum state and the object is taken out of the vacuum chamber 100, air should be introduced into the vacuum chamber 100. In this case, a configuration in which air can be shut off is required in the passage through which the air passes. For this, a solenoid valve 130 may be used in the vacuum chamber 100. The solenoid valve 130 is a device that opens and closes a valve by using the electromagnetic force of an electromagnetic coil. When the electric wire is spirally wound and energized, the valve is opened and closed by the magnetic field force.

Next, the laser beam oscillator 200 is configured to oscillate a laser beam for evaporating water adhering to the welding area of the object. The laser beam oscillator 200 oscillates a laser beam used for laser processing. The laser beam oscillator 200 may be a solid laser oscillator such as an Nd: YAG laser, a liquid laser oscillator, a gas laser such as a CO2 laser A laser oscillator, and a fiber laser oscillator, and any laser beam oscillator serving as a heat source can be used in the present invention. For example, a solid laser beam oscillator is a photo-excitation type (light-induced) laser that uses crystal or glass material doped with rare earth or transition metal ions as an active medium. The medium may be a ruby laser, a glass laser, or a YAG laser.

The liquid crystal oscillator refers to a laser oscillator in which the laser medium is liquid. A reflector is placed on both ends of a container containing a liquid laser medium, and the laser medium is excited by light irradiation. The gas laser beam oscillator is a laser oscillator that oscillates a laser beam using a gas as a medium. As the gas medium, helium, neon, argon and carbon dioxide are used. Because the medium is gas, the medium is confined in the glass tube and pumped by the discharge energy by the electrode attached to both ends of the glass tube. The carbon dioxide laser is widely used at present, but the energy efficiency is very high, so it can produce output ranging from several tens W to several tens of kW.

A fiber laser beam oscillator is a laser oscillator having an active medium in an optical fiber. It is a laser oscillator with a low-level rare-earth halide added to the medium, and its power can be controlled over a wide range, so that a laser beam can be irradiated in a wide band.

In addition, the diode laser beam oscillator is a laser oscillator made of semiconductor. The diode laser oscillator is characterized in that the device itself can be directly modulated by a current of a small size and a small driving power with a size of about several hundreds of micrometers (square) and can be directly modulated by visible light And the light emitting wavelengths exerted by the enemy are obtained.

The operation principle of the diode laser beam oscillator is characterized in that the process of induced emission is performed by a transition between a conduction band and a valence band or an impurity band, and the excitation method includes a photo excitation, an electron beam excitation, And the reflector constituting the Fabry-Perot resonator can be constituted by using the cleaved surface of the crystal.

Meanwhile, the laser beam oscillated by the laser beam oscillator 200 may be a square beam, a circular beam, a line beam, or the like, depending on the region to be irradiated with the laser beam.

Also, in the present invention, a laser beam oscillator 200 is used as a heat source for evaporating moisture, but an LED (light emitting diode) having good light-condensing ability as well as a laser beam oscillator 200 can also be used as a heat source.

Next, the laser scanning unit 300 is configured to reflect the laser beam to determine the irradiation position in order to irradiate the laser beam emitted from the laser beam oscillator 200 to the object.

The laser scanning unit 300 can determine the irradiation position of the laser beam such as a galvanometer scanner 310, a polygon mirror scanner 320, and an XY table 330 Any device that has it can be used.

First, the galvanometer scanner 310 reflects a laser beam emitted from the laser beam oscillator 200 to evaporate water adhering to the surface of the object, and irradiate the object. Also, the galvanometer scanner 310 can use two galvanometers to control the irradiation position of the laser beam. Each of the two galvanometers is capable of irradiating the object with a laser beam as a galvanometer 311 for controlling the x-coordinate system and a galvanometer 312 for controlling the y-coordinate system.

Next, the polygon mirror scanner will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 3 shows a water vaporization device using a polygon mirror scanner in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the polygon mirror scanner 320 has a polygonal surface and can be rotated at a high speed. The polygon mirror scanner 320 reflects a laser beam oscillated in the laser beam oscillator in accordance with a change in angle of a reflecting surface The angles may be different. In the polygon mirror 321, a plurality of reflecting surfaces are arranged at equal intervals and supported rotatably by the spindle motor. The spindle motor can be controlled to rotate at a constant speed. The polygon mirror scanner 320 may further include a reflector 322 for reflecting the laser beam reflected by the polygon mirror and irradiating the object with the laser beam.

Next, the XY table 330 is configured to reflect the laser beam emitted from the laser beam oscillator 200 so that the laser beam is irradiated on the object. Unlike the galvanometer scanner 310 and the polygon mirror scanner 320 described above, the XY table 330 can move the XY table itself in the X and Y axes without controlling the angle of reflection, have.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, a water evaporation apparatus using a vacuum chamber 100 that accommodates only a part of an object will be described. Figure 4 shows a water vaporization device using a vacuum chamber to receive only a portion of an object in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, a water evaporation apparatus having a structure in which a vacuum chamber 400 surrounds only a part of an object can be realized. That is, only the portion including the welded portion of the object enters the vacuum chamber 400.

Since the volume of the vacuum chamber 400 in which only a part of the object is accommodated is smaller than the volume of the vacuum chamber 100 surrounding the entire object, the inside of the vacuum chamber 400 can be rapidly made into a vacuum state, So that efficient water evaporation can be achieved.

Next, the control unit 500 controls the overall operation of the water evaporation apparatus of the present invention. The control unit 500 may control the vacuum pump so that the inside of the vacuum chamber 100 or 400 is in a vacuum state, and may control the valve to allow air to pass therethrough. In addition, the controller 500 may control the laser beam oscillator 200 such that the size and shape of the cross section of the laser beam are determined corresponding to the area of the object to be irradiated with the laser beam. For example, if the area to be irradiated with the laser beam is wide, the laser beam oscillator 200 can be controlled to oscillate the laser beam having a large cross-sectional area. If the area to be irradiated is narrow, can do.

In addition, the control unit 500 controls the laser scanning unit 300 to control the position where the laser beam is irradiated. For example, if a galvanometer scanner 310 is used as the laser scanning unit 300, the X-axis control galvanometer 311 and the Y-axis control galvanometer 312 of the galvanometer scanner 300 may be controlled So that the laser beam can be irradiated to only the area of the surface of the object where moisture is to be evaporated.

Hereinafter, a method of evaporating water for an object will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for evaporating moisture attached to an object in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. First, the object is put into the vacuum chamber 100 (S100). At this time, a window for transmitting a laser beam must be installed in the vacuum chamber 100.

Next, the space in the vacuum chamber 100 is evacuated (S200). A vane pump 120 may be used to create a vacuum state. In addition, when moisture of the object is evaporated in the vacuum state and the object is taken out, air is injected into the interior of the object. At this time, the vacuum solenoid valve 130 may be used.

Next, the laser beam oscillator 200 is used to oscillate the laser beam (S300). As the laser beam oscillator 200, solid, liquid, gas, fiber and diode laser beam oscillators 200 may be used. In addition, any type of laser beam can be used as the laser beam, such as a square beam, a circular beam, and a line beam.

Next, the laser is irradiated to the area to be welded of the object using the laser scanning unit 300 (S400). The galvanometer mirror 310 and the polygon mirror scanner 320 are used as the laser scanning unit 300 for determining the irradiation position of the laser beam oscillated by the laser beam oscillator 200 in order to irradiate the welding area of the object And can be driven by an XY table 330 or the like.

Next, the object is taken out of the vacuum chamber 100 (S500). After moisture adhering to the welding area of the object is evaporated, the object can be removed from the vacuum chamber 100. Since the moisture adhered to the welding area of the object to be extracted has evaporated, the welding can be performed, and hydrogen generation will be significantly reduced.

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments of the water evaporation apparatus and method for evaporating water according to the above-described embodiments are not limited to the configuration and method of the embodiments described above, but the embodiments can be applied to all or some of the embodiments May be selectively combined.

The above-described invention can provide a user with a water evaporation apparatus and method for an object. Specifically, the object of the present invention is to efficiently remove water adhering to a welding area of an object. Further, by heating the welding region of the object in a vacuum state, moisture can be removed more quickly, thereby reducing hydrogen generation during welding. In addition, unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced by heating only the welding area, not heating the entire object. In addition, it is possible to provide the user with a water leveling device which can reduce the time and cost by using a vacuum chamber that encloses only a part of the object, so that a vacuum state is required.

It should be understood, however, that the effects obtained by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs It will be possible.

100: Vacuum chamber
110: laser transmission window
120: Vane pump
130: Solenoid valve
200: laser beam oscillator
300: laser scanning unit
310: Galvanometer Scanner
311: X-axis control galvanometer
312: Y-axis control galvanometer
320: polygon mirror scanner
321: polygon mirror
322: reflector
330: XY table
400: Vacuum chamber containing only a part of the object
410: laser transmission window

Claims (10)

An apparatus for evaporating water attached to a surface of an object,
A vacuum chamber in which the object is accommodated;
A laser beam oscillator for oscillating a laser beam for heating the surface of the object;
A laser scanning unit for reflecting a laser beam emitted from the laser beam oscillator and determining a position to which the laser beam is irradiated; And
And a control unit for controlling operations of the laser beam oscillator and the laser scanning unit,
Wherein the vacuum chamber further comprises a laser beam transmission window through which the laser beam reflected by the laser scanning unit is transmitted,
Wherein the controller controls the laser beam oscillator and the laser scanning unit so that the laser beam is irradiated on a predetermined area of the surface of the object to evaporate moisture adhered to the predetermined area,
Wherein the predetermined region corresponds to an area to be welded on the surface of the object. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the laser beam oscillator comprises any one of a diode laser beam oscillator, a solid laser beam oscillator, a liquid laser beam oscillator, a gas laser beam oscillator and a fiber laser beam oscillator. The method according to claim 1,
Characterized in that the laser scanning unit comprises one of a galvanometer scanner, a polygon mirror scanner and an XY table. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the controller controls the laser beam oscillator so that at least one of a size and a shape of the cross section of the laser beam is determined corresponding to the predetermined area. The method according to claim 1,
The vacuum chamber accommodates only a part of the object,
Wherein a part of the accommodated object includes a predetermined area of the object surface. The method according to claim 1,
The vacuum chamber includes:
A vane pump for discharging internal air to the outside by rotating the plate connected to the rotor to make the inside of the vacuum chamber vacuum; And
And a solenoid valve for opening / closing the valve by using the electromagnetic force of the electromagnetic coil to determine whether or not to allow the vacuum chamber to be ventilated. A method for evaporating moisture attached to a surface of an object,
A first step of receiving the object in a vacuum chamber;
A second step of bringing the inside of the vacuum chamber into a vacuum state;
A third step of oscillating the laser beam using a laser beam oscillator; And
A fourth step of evaporating moisture adhered to the predetermined area by irradiating the laser beam to a predetermined area of the surface of the object using a laser scanning unit that reflects the oscillated laser beam and irradiates the surface of the object with the laser beam, Lt; / RTI >
Wherein the predetermined area corresponds to an area to be welded on the surface of the object. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the laser scanning unit comprises one of a galvanometer scanner, a polygon mirror scanner and an XY table. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein at least one of a size and a shape of the cross section of the laser beam is determined so as to correspond to the predetermined area. 8. The method of claim 7,
The vacuum chamber includes:
A vane pump for discharging internal air to the outside by rotating the plate connected to the rotor to make the inside of the vacuum chamber vacuum; And
And a vacuum solenoid valve for opening and closing the valve by using an electromagnetic force of the electromagnetic coil to determine whether the vacuum chamber is ventilated.

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