WO2000058050A1 - Systeme d'ecriture laser avec une tete laser de pointage - Google Patents

Systeme d'ecriture laser avec une tete laser de pointage Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2000058050A1
WO2000058050A1 PCT/US2000/008177 US0008177W WO0058050A1 WO 2000058050 A1 WO2000058050 A1 WO 2000058050A1 US 0008177 W US0008177 W US 0008177W WO 0058050 A1 WO0058050 A1 WO 0058050A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
laser
controller
inscribing system
traversing
motion
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2000/008177
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Frank Eble
James R. Huntley
Original Assignee
Sig Positec Automation, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Sig Positec Automation, Inc. filed Critical Sig Positec Automation, Inc.
Publication of WO2000058050A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000058050A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K1/00—Methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion
    • G06K1/12—Methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion otherwise than by punching
    • G06K1/126—Methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion otherwise than by punching by photographic or thermographic registration
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
    • B23K26/00—Working by laser beam, e.g. welding, cutting or boring
    • B23K26/08—Devices involving relative movement between laser beam and workpiece
    • B23K26/10—Devices involving relative movement between laser beam and workpiece using a fixed support, i.e. involving moving the laser beam

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a motion control apparatus. More specifically the present invention relates to a laser inscribing apparatus utilizing a traversing laser.
  • VI N vehicle identification numbers
  • permanent mark a non-removable identification
  • the inscription process is accomplished by mechanical or chemical means.
  • Tools such as routers can inscribe surfaces by mechanically removing part of the surface material.
  • Another mechanical method of inscribing a surface is sandblasting.
  • sandblasting a stream of high velocity particles is directed at a surface overlaid with a stencil. The high velocity particles impacting the surface areas not covered with the stencil will remove part of the surface material creating an image corresponding to the stencil.
  • Chemical etching with a stencil is also a common method of etching surfaces in combination with a chemical etching. The chemical etchant reacts with the surface to etch an image corresponding to the stencil shape.
  • the present invention is a method and apparatus for inscribing a surface using a traversing laser head.
  • the laser head is mounted on multi-axis traversing slides driven by electric motors.
  • the electric motors are coupled to a motor control system which is further integrated to a laser control system.
  • the laser will be pulsed in accordance with the position of the traversing laser head in a first plane and the laser pulses will further be directed in a second plane by an opto-electronic converter such as a crystal having an electrically controlled index of diffraction.
  • the pulsing of the laser will form a pattern comprising a series of scored points similar to a dot matrix image.
  • Position information for the traversing laser head will be provided by a motor control system and communicated to the laser control system to provide for the synchronized firing of the laser.
  • the motor and laser control systems may be further integrated to a factory control system to seamlessly integrate the laser inscribing process into a production line.
  • multiple microprocessors or controllers are utilized to process input/output (I/O), motion control, and laser firing. In this manner, the motion control and firing of the laser are not subject to the scan time delays of a traditional centralized industrial controller (i.e. the industrial controller is used for all control functions including motion control and I/O processing) such as a programmable logic controller (PLC).
  • PLC programmable logic controller
  • the controller used to move and trigger the laser may be configured with specific motion profiles transmitted to a laser controller containing associated message patterns and score patterns, where upon receipt of a control command to score a specific pattern, the motion control will be fully integrated to the firing of the laser, resulting in a precise score pattern.
  • the surface being inscribed by the present invention is glass or any other inorganic oxide.
  • the glass may be automotive glass and the pattern to be inscribed may be a VIN, part tracking code, manufacturer identification, or any other pattern suitable for replication glass.
  • the laser used must have an emission to which glass is not optically transparent. An eximer or CO 2 laser provides a beam which is highly effective for etching glass. In materials where the surface being inscribed is not transparent, a YAG laser may be used. It is understood that the selection of a laser emission source is dependent on the surface being inscribed. All surfaces which may be inscribed with a laser, including organic and inorganic materials, are considered within the scope of the present invention.
  • the laser traversing head is moved to generally the desired position in the y plane using the belt driven slides.
  • the laser traversing head is then moved in only the x plane to traverse the area to be scored.
  • the movement of the laser beam in the y-plane is provided by the opto-electronic crystal.
  • the crystal is modulated with a charge or RF signal to vary the laser beam position in an additional plane.
  • a two dimensional character can then be easily inscribed onto a surface.
  • the traversing laser head is configured to move in three planes. While Cartesian coordinates have been discussed above, any other coordinate system may be used to describe the traverse of the laser. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
  • FIG 1 is an illustration of the laser control system of the present invention
  • Figures 2a and 2b are illustrations of the end products of a sandblasted surface and a laser inscribed surface;
  • Figure 3 is a connection diagram of the stepper motor drive of the present invention.
  • Figures 4a and 4b are block diagrams of a prior art motion control system and the motion control and laser control system of the present invention
  • Figure 5 is a perspective drawing of the laser control system of the present invention.
  • Figure 6 is a cross-sectional diagram of the laser of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of the laser operation of the present invention.
  • Figure 8 is a diagrammatic illustration of the AOD operation of the present invention.
  • control system designed to operate with stepper motors
  • control system for a variety of motor technologies, including, but not limited to, DC brushless motors, AC motors, and any other type of servo motors.
  • the laser traversing system is shown generally as 10.
  • a traversing laser head 12 having a laser 13 is coupled to two traversing slides 14a and 14b to position the laser head 12 over a surface 15 to be scored.
  • the surface 15 is preferably a sheet of glass moving along a conveyor belt.
  • the traversing slides 14a and 14b are preferably belt driven but may also be screw driven. Stepper motors 16a and 16b are coupled to the belts of the traversing slides 14a and 14b to provide for actuation.
  • the stepper motors 16a and 16b are preferably directly coupled to the belts to provide a stiff coupling but in alternate embodiments gear boxes such as worm gears, planetary gears or the like may be used to couple the stepper motors 16a and 16b and the belts.
  • Stepper motor controllers or drives 18a and 18b are mounted onto the frame of the system 10.
  • the stepper motor drives 18a and 18b provide control commands and power to the stepper motors 16a and 16b and are electronically linked to the laser controller 20 that may also be seen in Figure 5.
  • the laser controller 20 further includes an operator interface 22 to enable an operator to program the laser controller 20.
  • a second motor control operator interface 24 allows an operator to program and operate the motor controllers 18a an 18b.
  • the prior art system 40 includes a standard motor drive 42, a PLC 44, a printer 46, and an encoder 48 providing a signal to the PLC 44 and printer 46.
  • the PLC 44 handles both the I/O control and the generation of a position command to the motor drive 42.
  • the scan time of the PLC will lead to delays in the execution of the motion control, creating time-shifted scored patterns.
  • the system 10 of the present invention shown in Figure 4b eliminates scan time delays by separately processing I/O with an I/O processor 50 and motion with a motion processor 52 within the motor controller 18.
  • This dual processing architecture removes scan time delays caused by I/O processing normally done in conjunction with motion control.
  • the motion processor 52 and I/O processor 50 may comprise any known microprocessor, microcontroller, indexer chip or similar control apparatus known in the art but is not limited to such.
  • Stepper motors are the preferred electric motors 16 of the present invention because of their digital motion control, high ruggedness, construction simplicity, high reliability, high break-away torque, and open loop control. Steppers also provide excellent torque throughout their entire speed range, eliminating the need for a gear box.
  • the stepper motors of the present invention may comprise permanent magnet stepper motors, variable reluctance stepper motors or hybrid stepper motors. While feedback is not required for the stepper motor an encoder, resolver, or tachometer may be provided on the motor for speed and/or position feedback to the motion controllers 18 and the laser controller 20.
  • Other servo motor technologies such as DC brushless, AC, DC, Vector or other types of servo systems are also considered within the scope of the present invention.
  • the stepping motors 16a and 16b move in response to an operator command entered into the operator interface 24 or move in response to a position/motion signal from an external control system.
  • the operator command is translated into digital or analog position and/or motion command(s) that are transferred to the drives 18a and18b.
  • the drives 18a and 18b generate a sequence of digital input commands to the stepper motors 16a and 16b.
  • the stepping of the motors 16a and 16b occurs in strict accordance with the digital input commands.
  • the benefits of this operation include: step error is noncumulative, the absolute position error is independent of the number of steps taken, and the shaft position is predictable.
  • the stepping resolution of the present invention should approach 0.1 mm/step and 0.01 mm/microstep.
  • the stepper motor drive 18 includes numerous communications inputs and outputs such as digital I/O, analog I/O, and communication interfaces.
  • Single phase 115 or 230 Volt AC power is provided by facility power, via switchbreakers 36, and 24 Volt DC power is provided by power supply 38.
  • the single phase 115 or 230 volt AC power is used to drive the stepper motor 16 and the 24 volt DC power is used for control logic.
  • a portion of the I/O is connected to the drive 18 through connector 26.
  • the connector 26 may be wired with numerous devices such as pushbuttons, switches, operator interfaces, pilot lights, relays, and other similar control devices that are all represented with the reference numeral 28 in Figure 3 connected to pins of connector 26.
  • the LEDs 27 in Figure 3 are indicators for the signal status of the I/O of connector 26.
  • the drive 18 further includes a line encoder input 29 and a motor encoder input 30.
  • the line encoder input 28 is connected to an encoder on an assembly line such that the drive 18 is able to monitor the speed of the assembly line.
  • a motor encoder coupled to a motor 16 driven by drive 18 provides speed and position of the motor 16 in real time and coordinates the firing of the laser 13.
  • a high speed serial output 31 preferably a twisted pairTTL level RS 422 interface, transfers print command signals to the laser controller 20 in conjunction with an interrupt driven high speed digital output in the connector 26.
  • a serial input 32 is included on the drive 18 to allow a programmer to download programs or data to the drive 18 and/or to transfer control information and data between the drive 18 and an external control system.
  • the serial communication protocol may be RS232, RS 422, RS485, or any other similar serial interface, but is not limited to such.
  • an engineer will construct a program offline on a programming device such as a personal computer where it will be compiled and downloaded onto the stepper motor drive to be burned onto an EEPROM or other nonvolatile memory storage.
  • the stepper motor drive 18 is equipped with a microprocessor to interpret and execute the program burned onto the EEPROM.
  • the EEPROM may be replaced with an alternate EEPROM to reprogram the drive 18.
  • the operator interface 24 provides for operation and monitoring of the drives.
  • the operator interface 24 is linked, via an RS485 connection 34, to the Drive 18.
  • the operator interface accepts discrete, integer, and floating point inputs and also outputs discrete, integer, and floating point outputs.
  • An operator may view drive status and enter complex commands such as speed, current limit, and position on the operator interface 24.
  • the laser 13 is mounted on the traversing laser head 12 and is pulsed to inscribe a surface material.
  • An example of a laser inscribed surface is shown in Figure 2b and may be compared to a sandblasted surface shown in Figure 2a.
  • the traversing laser head 12 is moved to the desired x, y (or z when three slides are used) position by use of the traversing slides 14.
  • the laser controller 20, in communication with the stepper motor drives 18, is given a fire or print go command from the stepper motor drives 18, via the serial port 31 or the interrupt driven high speed digital output.
  • the laser controller 20 is instructed to fire by the drive 18 for each pixel.
  • the laser controller 20 has been preprogrammed to score a particular pattern after a print go command has been received, via serial port 31 or the interrupt driven high speed digital output.
  • the laser controller 20 will synchronize the firing of the laser 13 to create a score pattern with encoder pulses received from the stepper motor 16 with stored motion profiles corresponding to the score pattern. In this manner the firing of the laser 13 will be synchronized with the movement of the stepper motor 16.
  • the laser 13 depicted in Figure 6 and 7 is illustrated in cross section and in diagrammatic form.
  • the laser 13 includes a laser tube 60 containing a medium (a mixture of carbon dioxide, helium, and nitrogen gases is contained in a cavity of parallel mirrors 62.
  • the rear mirror 62a reflects substantially all the energy and the front mirror 62b is partially transparent to allow a laser beam to travel through the front mirror 62b.
  • a turning mirror 70 allows the laser beam to be redirected 90 degrees to score horizontal surfaces. Inside this cavity of parallel mirrors 62, the light is reflected in the same wavelength as the desired laser beam or emissions. When the flux of photons, excited by RF energy, exceeds an energy threshold, the laser beam is obtained.
  • AOD 64 opto-electronic crystal or acoustical optical deflector (AOD) 64 which deflects the beam to score dots in different positions on the target surface.
  • Each character scored on the surface is considered a dot matrix, in which each dot is deflected at a different angle ( A dot matrix is nothing more than the rectangular pattern of dots that make up each character.)
  • the AOD 64 is the component that deflects the laser beam into different angles in the vertical axis to form the desired score pattern.
  • the AOD 64 is controlled by RF energy. By varying the RF energy applied to the AOD 64, the index of refraction of the AOD 64 is varied.
  • the variable refractive properties of the AOD 64 enable a laser beam to be directed in multiple directions.
  • the RF energy or charge applied to the AOD 64 is controlled by laser controller 20.
  • the AOD 64 in the preferred embodiment is configured to vary the laser beam in the y direction.
  • the traversing laser head 12 is moved in the x direction by the slide 14a across the surface to be inscribed.
  • the positioning of the laser pulses is done in both the x and y direction to provide for the inscription of two-dimensional images or characters.
  • An additional actuator may be included to position the traversing laser head 12 in the Z direction.
  • the system 10 of the present invention may be integrated to an external control system such as those used in a manufacturing plant through numerous electronic connections.
  • the system 10 is equipped with digital inputs and outputs for start and stop instructions, status, error codes and other similar types of digital information.
  • a network connection such as CAN, DeviceNet, Interbus, Profibus DP 485 or other similar communication interface may also be included in the motor controller 18 or the laser controller 20 to allow for the transfer of large amounts information between the system 10 and an external control system.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Laser Beam Processing (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un système d'écriture laser comprenant une commande (20) d'entrée/sortie, une commande de déplacement communiquant avec la commande (20) d'entrée/sortie, un moteur (16a) électrique commandé par la commande de déplacement, un curseur mobile (14a) couplé au moteur électrique, une tête laser (12) de pointage couplée au curseur mobile destiné à actionner la tête laser de pointage dans une première dimension ; un laser (13) couplé à la tête laser (12) de pointage, le laser (13) dirigeant un faisceau laser sur une surface pour effectuer une inscription et étant déclenché par la commande de déplacement ; et un cristal à diffraction variable destiné à effectuer une diffraction du faisceau laser dans une deuxième dimension.
PCT/US2000/008177 1999-03-26 2000-03-24 Systeme d'ecriture laser avec une tete laser de pointage WO2000058050A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US12645199P 1999-03-26 1999-03-26
US60/126,451 1999-03-26

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2000058050A1 true WO2000058050A1 (fr) 2000-10-05

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Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102010044645A1 (de) * 2009-10-16 2011-04-21 Robert Bosch Gmbh Verfahren zum Ansteuern eines Digitaldruckwerks und Digitaldruckmaschine
US8595296B2 (en) 2000-03-01 2013-11-26 Open Invention Network, Llc Method and apparatus for automatically data streaming a multiparty conference session
CN115044757A (zh) * 2022-06-22 2022-09-13 首钢智新迁安电磁材料有限公司 一种用于激光刻痕抛物镜焦点的自动调节装置

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2133352A (en) * 1983-01-13 1984-07-25 Laser Applic Limited A laser marking system
US5021631A (en) * 1989-06-07 1991-06-04 Codilaser S.A. System for marking moving objects by laser beams
US5198636A (en) * 1989-11-07 1993-03-30 Schablonentechnik Kufstein Gesellschaft Mbh Apparatus for machining a hollow cylinder to produce a pattern drum
US5262613A (en) * 1991-09-24 1993-11-16 General Laser, Inc. Laser retrofit for mechanical engravers
US5298717A (en) * 1992-08-17 1994-03-29 Derossett Jr Thomas A Method and apparatus for laser inscription of an image on a surface

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2133352A (en) * 1983-01-13 1984-07-25 Laser Applic Limited A laser marking system
US5021631A (en) * 1989-06-07 1991-06-04 Codilaser S.A. System for marking moving objects by laser beams
US5198636A (en) * 1989-11-07 1993-03-30 Schablonentechnik Kufstein Gesellschaft Mbh Apparatus for machining a hollow cylinder to produce a pattern drum
US5262613A (en) * 1991-09-24 1993-11-16 General Laser, Inc. Laser retrofit for mechanical engravers
US5298717A (en) * 1992-08-17 1994-03-29 Derossett Jr Thomas A Method and apparatus for laser inscription of an image on a surface

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8595296B2 (en) 2000-03-01 2013-11-26 Open Invention Network, Llc Method and apparatus for automatically data streaming a multiparty conference session
DE102010044645A1 (de) * 2009-10-16 2011-04-21 Robert Bosch Gmbh Verfahren zum Ansteuern eines Digitaldruckwerks und Digitaldruckmaschine
CN115044757A (zh) * 2022-06-22 2022-09-13 首钢智新迁安电磁材料有限公司 一种用于激光刻痕抛物镜焦点的自动调节装置
CN115044757B (zh) * 2022-06-22 2024-01-02 首钢智新迁安电磁材料有限公司 一种用于激光刻痕抛物镜焦点的自动调节装置

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