WO2015145609A1

WO2015145609A1 - Laser device

Info

Publication number: WO2015145609A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/058492
Authority: WO
Inventors: 一郎福士; 章之門谷; 隼規坂本; 一馬渡辺; 次郎齊川; 直也石垣; 進吾宇野; 廣木　知之; 東條　公資
Original assignee: 株式会社島津製作所
Priority date: 2014-03-26
Filing date: 2014-03-26
Publication date: 2015-10-01

Abstract

　This device is provided with: a laser light source having a plurality of laser units; a plurality of optical fibers connected respectively to the laser units, for propagating laser light that has exited the laser units; a plurality of exit units respectively connected to the optical fibers, for receiving entry of light propagated through the optical fibers; a plurality of output ports for respectively outputting to the outside at least some of beams of laser light having traveled through the exit units; and a moving mechanism for moving the positions of the exit units in such a way that beams of laser light exiting the exit units enter the output ports.

Description

Laser equipment

The present invention relates to a laser device that divides and outputs laser light.

Laser devices that branch and output laser light emitted from a laser light source are used. For example, in a machine tool that cuts, welds, etc. by irradiating a workpiece with laser light, a plurality of laser beams emitted from one laser light source are split at a predetermined ratio by a branching optical element such as a branch mirror. Branch to light. And a some laser beam is propagated with an optical fiber, and the some process using a laser beam is performed simultaneously.

In such a laser apparatus, it may be necessary to change the workpiece or adjust the output energy of the laser beam to be irradiated. At this time, if a process such as adjusting the connection state between the branching optical element and the optical fiber every time the branching optical element is changed to a different branching ratio, the number of man-hours is greatly increased. Therefore, it is desired to change the output energy of the laser light without changing the connection state of the optical fiber.

For this reason, for example, a laser apparatus has been proposed that moves a movable stage to which a plurality of branching optical elements having different branching rates are fixed (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this laser apparatus, the branching ratio is changed without changing the connection state of the optical fibers by replacing the branching optical element located on the optical axis of the laser light. Thereby, the laser beam set to predetermined output energy is output from each branching optical element to the optical fiber.

Japanese Patent No. 2875952

However, in the above laser apparatus, since a plurality of branching optical elements are arranged on the optical path, the optical path length from the laser light source to the optical fiber becomes long. For this reason, there has been a problem in reliability such as a decrease in coupling efficiency due to mechanical distortion of the optical element on the optical path caused by an environmental temperature change after the initial setting. Further, the output energy of the laser light is fixed according to the branching rate set in the optical element for branching arranged in advance. That is, the degree of freedom in setting the output energy is low.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a laser apparatus that has a high degree of freedom in setting output energy after branching and has improved reliability.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a laser light source having a plurality of laser units, a plurality of optical fibers that are respectively connected to any of the plurality of laser units and through which laser light emitted from the laser units propagates, and a plurality of A plurality of output units each connected to any one of the optical fibers and receiving laser light propagating through the optical fiber; and a plurality of output ports each outputting at least one of the laser lights that have passed through the output unit; A laser device is provided that includes a moving mechanism that moves the position of the emission unit so that the laser beam emitted from the emission unit is incident on one of the output ports.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a laser apparatus having a high degree of freedom in setting the output energy after branching and having improved reliability.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the laser apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the usage example of the laser apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of the emission unit in the laser apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the other example of arrangement | positioning of the emission unit in the laser apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic. Further, the embodiment described below exemplifies an apparatus and a method for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the embodiment of the present invention has the following structure and arrangement of components. It is not something specific. The embodiment of the present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the claims.

As shown in FIG. 1, the laser apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention propagates the laser light source 100 having the laser units 101 to 103 and the laser light emitted from the laser units 101 to 103, respectively. The optical fiber 201 to the optical fiber 203, and the emission unit 301 to the emission unit 303 into which the laser beams propagated through the optical fiber 201 to the optical fiber 203 are incident, respectively. Hereinafter, the laser units 101 to 103 are collectively referred to as the laser unit 10. The optical fibers 201 to 203 are collectively referred to as the optical fiber 20. Furthermore, the emission units 301 to 303 are collectively referred to as the emission unit 30.

One end of the optical fiber 20 is connected to the laser unit 10, and the other end is connected to the emission unit 30. That is, the laser light output from the laser unit 101 propagates through the optical fiber 201 and enters the emission unit 301. The laser light output from the laser unit 102 propagates through the optical fiber 202 and enters the emission unit 302. The laser light output from the laser unit 103 propagates through the optical fiber 203 and enters the emission unit 303.

As shown in FIG. 1, the emission unit 30 includes an output end 31 of the optical fiber 20 to which the laser light output from the laser unit 10 is output, and a collimator lens 32 that collimates the laser light output from the output end 31. Have

The laser apparatus 1 further includes an output port 401 to an output port 404 that output at least one of the laser beams that have passed through the emission unit 30 to the outside. Hereinafter, the output port 401 to the output port 404 are collectively referred to as the output port 40. The laser light output from the emission unit 301 to the emission unit 303 propagates through the space and enters one of the output port 401 to the output port 404.

For this purpose, the laser device 1 includes a moving mechanism 501 to a moving mechanism 503 for moving the position of the emission unit 30. Hereinafter, the moving mechanism 501 to the moving mechanism 503 are collectively referred to as the moving mechanism 50. The moving mechanism 50 moves the position of the emission unit 30 so that the output port 40 is positioned on the optical axis of the laser light L emitted from the emission unit 30.

Specifically, the moving mechanism 501 moves the emission unit 301 and causes the laser beam emitted from the emission unit 301 to enter any of the output port 401 to the output port 404. The moving mechanism 502 moves the emission unit 302 to cause the laser light emitted from the emission unit 302 to enter any one of the output port 401 to the output port 404. The moving mechanism 503 moves the emission unit 303 to cause the laser light emitted from the emission unit 303 to enter any of the output port 401 to the output port 404.

1, the moving mechanism 50 moves the emission unit 30 in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction of the laser light L traveling from the emission unit 30 toward the output port 40. Therefore, it is possible to arbitrarily set which of the output port 401 to the output port 403 the laser light emitted from the emission unit 301 to the emission unit 303 is incident on. In the laser apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the laser beam emitted from the emission unit 301 is incident on the output port 401, the laser beam emitted from the emission unit 302 is incident on the output port 402, and is emitted from the emission unit 303. A case where the laser beam is incident on the output port 403 is illustrated. The moving mechanism 50 can employ a mechanism such as a linear actuator. In the laser apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the moving mechanisms 501 to 503 are arranged along the optical axis direction of the laser light L emitted from the emitting unit 30 in order to move the plurality of emitting units 30 independently. Has been.

Each of the output port 401 to the output port 404 includes an output condensing element 41 and an output terminal 42 on which laser light is incident, as shown in FIG. That is, the output condensing element 41 condenses the laser light on the output terminal 42, and the laser light is output to the outside via the output terminal 42. For example, laser light is output to the outside through an output cable 200 that can be connected to the output terminal 42. As the output condensing element 41, an optical element such as a lens can be employed. The output cable 200 is, for example, an optical fiber. The output condensing element 41 and the output cable 200 used for the output port 404 have a larger cross-sectional area of the waveguide than the output condensing element 41 and the output cable 200 used for the output port 401 to the output port 403. This is because a plurality of laser beams respectively emitted from the plurality of emission units 30 are incident on the output port 404. Details of the incidence of the laser beam on the output port 404 will be described later.

The laser unit 10 includes a plurality of laser elements 11 and a laser condensing element 12 that condenses the emitted light of the laser element 11 and makes it incident on the optical fiber 20. The laser element 11 is, for example, a semiconductor laser or a solid laser. The laser condensing element 12 is an optical element such as a lens. The laser unit 10 further includes a collimating lens 13 that collimates the light emitted from the laser element 11. One collimating lens 13 is prepared for each laser element 11. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the laser light collimated by the collimating lens 13 enters the laser condensing element 12.

As described above, each of the laser unit 10, the optical fiber 20, and the emission unit 30 constitutes one optical fiber coupling type multiplexing module. Although FIG. 1 illustrates the case where the number of optical fiber coupling type multiplexing modules is three, the number of optical fiber coupling type multiplexing modules included in the laser device 1 is not limited to three. . The number of optical fiber coupling type multiplexing modules can be arbitrarily set according to the number of laser outputs required for the laser device 1. Further, the number of output ports 40 can be arbitrarily set.

Here, the incidence of laser light on the output port 404 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the moving unit 50 arranges the emission units 301 to 303 adjacent to each other. In this state, the output port 404 multiplexes the laser beams emitted from the emission units 301 to 303 by the output condensing element 41 having a size capable of simultaneously entering the laser beams emitted from the emission units 301 to 303. . As a result, the output port 404 can output laser light with higher output energy than the output ports 401 to 403.

For example, when the output energy of the laser light emitted from the laser unit 101 to the laser unit 103 is the same, the laser light having an output energy three times that of the output port 401 to the output port 403 is output from the output port 404. Note that the laser light emitted from the two emission units 30 may be condensed at the output port 404.

By the way, when the emission units 301 to 303 are arranged adjacent to each other, it is preferable that the emission units 301 to 303 are densely arranged three-dimensionally as shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, it is also possible to arrange the emission units 301 to 303 in a line. However, the size of the output condensing element 41 of the output port 404 can be suppressed by adopting the configuration shown in FIG. For this purpose, for example, as indicated by broken arrows in FIG. 3, the plurality of emission units 30 may be moved in directions perpendicular to the optical axis direction of the laser light on different plane levels. On the other hand, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of emission units 30 are moved on the same plane level.

In the laser apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the laser unit 10 and the emission unit 30 are connected by an optical fiber 20. For this reason, even if the emission unit 30 is moved by the moving mechanism 50, a decrease in coupling efficiency caused by mechanical distortion due to an environmental temperature change or the like is suppressed.

Further, by setting the number of laser elements 11 for each laser unit 10 or changing the output of the laser elements 11, different output energies are set independently for each optical fiber coupling type multiplexing module. Can do.

On the other hand, in a laser device that outputs a laser beam branched using a branching optical element, the output energy of the laser output is fixed according to the branching rate of the branching optical element. For example, when the laser beam is branched into four at a branching ratio of 1/4, when only the output of one laser beam is desired to be used, the output energy is fixed to 1/4 of the original laser beam. Further, since the branching ratio of the branching optical element is fixed, the branching ratio cannot be changed continuously.

On the other hand, the laser apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 does not obtain a plurality of laser outputs by branching the laser light from the laser light source 100 by the branching optical element, but the laser light from the plurality of laser units 10 independent from each other. Is output. For this reason, output energy can be arbitrarily set for each output port 40. That is, the output ratio of the laser beam output from the output port 40 can be set arbitrarily. Therefore, when the laser device 1 is regarded as a laser device with a branching rate set, an arbitrary branching rate can be easily realized.

Furthermore, in the laser apparatus 1, the position of the emission unit 30 is controlled by the moving mechanism 50, and the output light of the optical fiber coupling type multiplexing module can be multiplexed. For this reason, the brightness | luminance of the laser apparatus 1 can be set optimally.

As described above, according to the laser apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a laser apparatus with a high degree of freedom in setting output energy and improved reliability.

As described above, the present invention has been described according to the embodiment. However, it should not be understood that the description and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art. That is, it goes without saying that the present invention includes various embodiments not described herein. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the invention specifying matters according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

The laser device of the present invention can be used for a purpose of branching and outputting laser light.

Claims

A laser light source having a plurality of laser units;
A plurality of optical fibers which are respectively connected to any of the plurality of laser units and through which laser light emitted from the laser units propagates;
A plurality of emission units that are respectively connected to any of the plurality of optical fibers and into which the laser light propagated through the optical fibers is incident;
A plurality of output ports for outputting at least one of the laser beams via the emission unit to the outside, and
And a moving mechanism for moving the position of the emission unit so that the laser beam emitted from the emission unit is incident on one of the output ports.
The moving mechanism moves the position of the emission unit so that the plurality of laser beams respectively emitted from the emission unit are incident on one of the plurality of output ports. 2. The laser device according to 1.
The laser device according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism moves the plurality of emission units in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis direction of the laser light.
4. The laser apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the moving mechanism moves the plurality of emission units on different plane levels.
The output port is
An output condensing element on which the laser light is incident;
An output terminal, wherein the output condensing element condenses the laser light emitted from the emission unit on the output terminal, and outputs the laser light to the outside via the output terminal. The laser device according to claim 1.
The laser unit is
A plurality of laser elements;
The laser apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a laser condensing element that condenses the light emitted from the laser element and causes the light to enter the optical fiber.
The laser device according to claim 6, wherein the laser unit further includes a collimating lens that collimates the emitted light of the laser element.