WO2014115983A1

WO2014115983A1 - Light dividing apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2014115983A1
Application number: PCT/KR2014/000198
Authority: WO
Inventors: 발렌틴차딘; 알렉퍼알리에프; 박상배; 김성철; 세르게이폴루쉬킨; 이해동
Original assignee: 에이엠테크놀로지 주식회사
Priority date: 2013-01-25
Filing date: 2014-01-08
Publication date: 2014-07-31
Also published as: KR101457516B1; KR20140095819A

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus for dividing a laser beam, which is generated from a laser beam generating unit, into a plurality of beams, the light dividing apparatus comprising a light dividing unit for dividing the laser beam generated from the laser beam generating unit into a main beam and an auxiliary beam, wherein the light dividing unit comprises a dividing prism which is disposed at one side of the laser beam so as to intersect a part of the luminous flux of the laser beam. The present invention can divide a laser beam, which is generated from a single laser beam generating unit, into a number required by a user.

Description

Optical splitter

The present invention relates to a light splitting apparatus, and more particularly, to a light splitting apparatus for dividing a single laser beam into a plurality of beams.

LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is a light amplified by induced emission, the intensity is very strong and does not spread far.

Lasers are used in various fields such as processing and communication.

Looking at the Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-0631304 (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art 1), it can be seen that a technique that uses a laser for cutting the glass is disclosed. Here, in the prior art, it can be seen that a first laser beam for cutting along a cutting line on a glass substrate that is a cutting operation object, for example, a second laser beam and a third laser beam is generated and irradiated at each laser generator.

In addition, looking at the Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-0320756 (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art 2), it can be seen that a technique for measuring the thickness of the plate used in a non-contact type using a laser thickness of the plate used in the production site is disclosed. . Here, it can be seen that the laser is irradiated on both sides of the plate, respectively, in this case, it can be seen that each laser is generated in a separate laser beam irradiation apparatus.

As described in the above prior art, in the case of an apparatus using a laser beam, a plurality of laser beams are often used in the same apparatus. As described above, when a plurality of laser beams are used, each laser beam is generated in a laser beam generator that is disposed separately.

However, when a plurality of laser beam generators are arranged, there is a problem that the structure of the apparatus becomes complicated and the overall installation cost increases.

In addition, there is a problem in that a plurality of laser beam generators are disposed and it is difficult to control the same laser beam generators at the same time.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical splitting apparatus for dividing a laser beam generated by a single laser beam generating unit into a plurality of laser beams.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an optical splitting apparatus for dividing a single laser beam into a main beam and an auxiliary beam.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a device for dividing a plurality of laser beams generated by a laser beam generator, comprising: a light splitter for dividing a laser beam generated by the laser beam generator into a main beam and an auxiliary beam; The light splitting unit includes a splitting prism disposed on one side of the laser beam and disposed to intersect a portion of the laser beam luminous flux.

The apparatus may further include a light beam converter configured to convert the light beam of the laser beam into an elliptical shape.

The luminous flux converter may include a mask disposed in front of the light splitter.

The split prism may be disposed at one or more around the central axis of the laser beam.

The split prism may include an incident surface inclined toward the laser beam generator and an incident surface to which the laser beam is incident, and an exit surface parallel to the incident surface and outputting the laser beam.

As described above, the present invention may divide a laser beam generated by a single laser beam generator into a plurality of laser beams.

In addition, the present invention can divide a single laser beam into a main beam and an auxiliary beam.

1 is a view conceptually showing a configuration of an optical splitting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the optical splitter shown in FIG. 1 viewed from another direction.

3 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a configuration of an optical splitting apparatus according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the split prism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the division of the laser beam by the split prism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an irradiation state of a main beam and an auxiliary beam divided and radiated by the split prism illustrated in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a configuration of an optical splitting apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the optical splitting apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 as viewed from another direction.

1 and 2, the light splitting apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment may include a light splitting unit 120 for splitting a ray point beam.

The light splitter 120 includes a pair of split prisms 122.

In the present embodiment, the light splitter 120 including a pair of split prisms 122 is used for preheating and a single main beam used for cutting a single laser beam so that it can be applied to the prior art 1. It can be split into a pair of auxiliary beams used. In the present embodiment, the split prisms are included as a pair, but the number of split prisms can be increased or decreased corresponding to the number of split laser beams required by the user.

When the present invention is applied to the prior art 2, the light splitter 120 may include a single split prism 122.

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of split prisms included in the light splitter 120 may vary according to the required number of laser beams.

Here, the wavelength of the laser beam split by the light splitter 120 may be set according to the needs of the user. However, in order to make the degree of dispersion and the degree of refraction of the laser beam uniform by the optical elements described below, the laser beam is preferably a single wavelength. It is preferable that the wavelength of the laser beam used in the apparatus to which the present embodiment is applied is 1.064 µm. In addition, the laser beam generator 110 may be a YAG laser, CO2 laser, fiber laser and the like.

Although the luminous flux of the laser beam generated by the laser beam generator 110 is circular, it is preferable to convert the luminous flux according to the needs of the user. That is, in the present embodiment, since the split prism 122 is used as a pair, the luminous flux of the laser beam generated by the laser beam generator 110 is elliptical having a predetermined short axis and long axis diameter so that the laser beam is easily divided. It is desirable to convert.

In order to form the elliptical laser beam luminous flux, the luminous flux converting unit 130 may be disposed between the laser beam generator 110 and the light splitter 120.

The luminous flux converter 130 is a mask in which an elliptical luminous flux conversion hole 132 is formed in the center. Here, the hole 132 is formed in an elliptical shape. Therefore, the laser beam generated by the laser beam generator 110 passes through the hole 132 and has a light beam corresponding to the shape of the hole 132, that is, an elliptical light beam.

Here, the length of the long axis and short axis of the luminous flux of the laser beam may be variously set according to the needs of the user.

Referring to FIG. 3, the beam converting unit 130 may include a single beam expander 132 and a beam shaping 134 (which may be referred to as a beam shaper or a beam homogenizer). It can be included as a pair. The beam expander is a component that enlarges the cross-sectional area of the beam, and the beam shaper is a component that converts the shape of the beam as needed.

3 is different from the previous embodiment in the configuration of the luminous flux converter, but other components are the same, which will be described below.

In addition, since the laser beam generator 110 is generally installed to be movable in the X, Y, and Z axis directions according to a user's needs, the light splitter 120 moves in correspondence with the laser beam generator 110. It is preferable to be installed as possible.

The light splitter 120 divides the laser beam generated by the laser beam generator 110 into a main beam and an auxiliary beam, and focuses the luminous fluxes of the divided main beam 3 and the auxiliary beam 4, respectively. Here, the main beam can be used for cutting the glass 1, and the auxiliary beam can be used for preheating to facilitate the cutting of the glass.

The light splitter 120 includes a pair of split prisms 122 for splitting the laser beam.

The pair of split prisms 122 divides the laser beam irradiated for cutting the glass into the main beam for cutting and the auxiliary beam for preheating. Here, in order to facilitate preheating on both sides of the cutting line to which the main beam is irradiated, the split prisms 122 are prepared in pairs, and are preferably disposed at both sides with respect to the optical axis of the laser beam.

In the arrangement of the split prism 122, the split prism 122 is preferably arranged around the central axis of the ray point beam.

The pair of split prisms 122 are arranged in the long axis direction of the laser beam 2, and each of the split prisms 122 has the same distance (d) from the optical axis of the laser beam.

The laser beam 2 passing through the separation space of the split prism 122 continues straight as the main beam 3, and the laser beam passing through the split prism 122 is refracted in the predetermined direction as the auxiliary beam 4. For this purpose, it is preferable that the separation distance d of the split prism 122 is smaller than the major axis diameter of the laser beam. In addition, the separation distance of the split prism 122 may be changed at specific intervals when the energy density of the beam is to be changed according to the cutting object. In this case, the separation distance of the split prism 122 may start at least zero.

For refraction of the auxiliary beam, split prism 122 is made as follows.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the split prism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which a right side view (a), a left side view (b), and a plan view (c) of the split prism are shown.

Referring to FIG. 4, the split prism 122 may have a hexahedron shape having a predetermined height, width, and thickness. However, a predetermined chamfering process may be performed on the rear surface of the split prism 122 on both side edge portions.

At this time, the surface facing the laser beam generator 110 is set as the incident surface 123a through which the laser beam is incident, and the opposite side is the exit surface 123b through which the laser beam is emitted. Can be set. At this time, the incident surface 123a and the emission surface 123b are parallel to each other, but are inclined toward the laser beam generator 110. At this time, according to the inclination of the incident surface 123a and the exit surface 123b, the separation degree of the main beam 3 and the auxiliary beam 4 to be described later is set, the inclination is preferably set according to the needs of the user Do.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the division of the laser beam by the split prism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Referring to FIG. 5, the auxiliary beam 4 is emitted in parallel with the main beam 3 by the inclined entrance surface 123a and the emission surface 123b, but is spaced apart from the main beam 3 by a predetermined distance. It is emitted.

The main beam 3 and the auxiliary beam 4, which are divided through the split prism 122, may be focused by a separate focusing lens 140 to be irradiated onto the glass to be cut. At this time, the focusing lens 140 focuses the main beam 3 and the auxiliary beam 4 on the glass, which is a cutting target, to form a focal point. For this purpose, the focusing lens 140 is preferably arranged to be movable along the optical axis.

The use of the optical splitting apparatus configured as described above will be described.

First, the light splitting apparatus 100 is disposed between the laser beam generator 110 and the glass to be cut. The optical splitting apparatus 100 may be integrally connected with the laser beam generator 110. At this time, if the light splitting apparatus 100 can move in response to the movement of the laser beam generator 110, they may be arranged separately from each other.

The laser beam generated by the laser beam generator 110 may be converted into a light beam in a form required by the user by the light beam converter 130.

Although the light beam converter 130 is illustrated in the drawing, the light beam converter 130 may not be used according to a user's needs.

The laser beam passes through a pair of split prisms 122. Here, the laser beam passing through the spaced space of the pair of split prisms 122 can be used for cutting the glass as the main beam 3. In addition, the laser beam incident on the incident surface 123a of the pair of divided prisms 122 is refracted at a predetermined angle and then emitted through the emission surface 123b, and then the main beam 3 as the auxiliary beam 4. Preheat both sides.

6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a main beam and an auxiliary beam are incident on a glass that is a cutting target.

Referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that the laser beam is divided into the main beam 3 and the auxiliary beam 4 by the splitting prism, and then irradiated along the cutting line 1a of the glass 1. Here, according to the needs of the user, an additional optical element may be added to change the irradiation direction of the main beam 3 and the auxiliary beam 4.

When the laser beam generator 110 and the light splitter 120 are moved along the cutting line 1a, the main beam 3 is focused along the cutting line and the glass is cut by the energy.

The main beam 3 and the auxiliary beam 4 divided by the split prism 122 may be focused by the focusing lens 140 to improve cutting and preheating efficiency.

The main beam 3 is irradiated along the cutting line 1a, the glass is cut, and the auxiliary beam 4 is irradiated to both sides of the cutting line, and preheated, so that the cutting can be easily made. have.

According to the present invention, a laser beam generated by a single laser beam generator may be divided into a number required by a user.

As described above, when the laser beam is used for glass cutting, a single laser beam is divided into a main beam irradiated to the glass cutting line and an auxiliary beam which simultaneously preheats both sides of the cutting line at the same time, and uses a single laser beam. Cutting and preheating can be done simultaneously.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Claims

An apparatus for dividing a laser beam generated by a laser beam generator,

And a light splitter configured to split the laser beam generated by the laser beam generator into a main beam and an auxiliary beam.

The light splitter includes a splitting prism disposed on one side of the laser beam and disposed to intersect a portion of the laser beam luminous flux.
The method of claim 1,

And a light beam converting unit converting the light beam of the laser beam into an elliptical shape.
The method of claim 2,

The luminous flux converter,

And a mask disposed in front of the light splitter.
The method of claim 1,

And at least one divisional prism is arranged around a central axis of the laser beam.
The method of claim 4, wherein

The split prism is,

An incidence surface inclined toward the laser beam generating unit and to which the laser beam is incident;

And an emission surface parallel to the entrance surface and to which the laser beam is emitted.