JPS5921491A - Laser working robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the optical axis of laser light variable while keeping a focal position invariable with a simple mechanical mechanism, by guiding the laser light from a one or higher dimensionally movable irradiation mechanism to a condenser lens by specifically providing two curved arms. CONSTITUTION:The laser light LB from an oscillator 12 on a horizontal support member 9 which is one or higher dimensionally movable advances downward along the central axial line M1 perpendicular to the member 9 in a hollow curved arm 13 supported rotatably around the line M1. The light LB is reflected by a mirror and advances in the direction of the horizontal central axial line M2 and the central axial line M3 inclined by 45 deg. inward and downward with respect to the horizon. The light advances further along the line M3 and the central axial line M4 inclined downward on the outer side thereof in the 2nd curved arm 16 supported freely rotatably around the line M3 to the forward end in the inclined part of the arm 13. The light LB advances in the direction of an oscillating central line M5 extending to the inner side at 45 deg. with respect to the line M3 and passing always the intersected point P of the lines M1 and M3, passes a condenser lens 23 and is converged at the point P.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a laser processing robot 71□ that performs automatic cutting and welding of metal plates using laser light. In recent years, laser processing machines that apply laser light to cutting and welding processes have come into practical use. This type of laser processing machine generally generates laser light with a laser oscillator, guides this laser light near the workpiece with a reflecting mirror, etc., and finally forms the laser light with a condenser lens and irradiates it onto the workpiece surface. It is configured as follows. What is important in this laser processing, for example in the case of fusing, is to focus the laser beam with the highest energy density on the processing line of the workpiece, and while maintaining this state, keep the optical axis perpendicular to the processing surface of the workpiece. If the posture becomes, add 1:
Greater ability and accuracy. The currently commonly used CO2 laser processing machine places the workpiece on a worktable that can move horizontally in two dimensions, and places a 17-laser irradiator above the worktable to focus the light. With the optical axis of the lens held vertically, this condensing lens is moved up and down to focus on the workpiece processing surface.Therefore, if the workpiece processing surface is curved or inclined, , there are places where the optical axis is perpendicular to the processing surface and places where it is not, resulting in differences in processing performance depending on the location.Even if the entire laser irradiator mentioned above is tilted freely, Even if it is possible to change the laser irradiation mechanism, the focal position will be distorted each time, and the focal point must be readjusted, making continuous processing difficult. The laser irradiation mechanism is attached to a support part that can move in one dimension, and the laser irradiation mechanism includes a hollow bending arm member whose base is rotatably supported on the support member so as to be rotatable about a vertical central axis, and a fixed part of the support member or the robot. a laser oscillator that is installed and capable of projecting a laser beam into the base along the vertical central axis directly or through a refraction guide means; 1. a plurality of laser beam refracting means capable of reflecting and guiding along the central axis of the bending arm member; and a condensing lens attached to the opening at the tip of the bent arm member, the laser beam passing through the condensing lens is directed to the vertical direction. We provide a laser processing robot that is characterized by convergence on the central axis, and aims to make the posture of the optical axis of the laser light variable while keeping the focal position unchanged using a simple mechanical mechanism. 1.
, will be described in detail below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of the robot 1. 0, 2, and 2 are a pair of workpiece fixtures installed on the base 3-H with a distance between them on the left and right, facing each other, and the sides facing each other. are equipped with disk-shaped workpiece mounting plates 2a, 2a, of which the left mounting plate 2a is free-rotating, and the right side σ) is equipped with appropriate jigs (not shown) for forward and reverse motors installed on the back of the mounting plate 2a. This is as if the workpiece W, which has been fixed by a rotation angle, is rotated around the center (in the direction of the arrow θ). A pillar erected on the base 3 at a distance from the left and right, and both pillars 4 and 4
A beam 5 is installed between them. Reference numeral 6 indicates a longitudinal moving body which is inserted into the upper part of the beam 5 moving body 6 and is movable in the front and rear direction horizontally (direction of arrow Y); 8 is inserted into the front part of the longitudinal moving body 7.
[Vertically movable body capable of moving up and down in the vertical direction (direction of arrow Z); 9 is the vertically movable body 1317) ``'' A horizontal support member that is fixed to the F end and extends forward; A laser irradiation mechanism 10 is provided in the section. From the laser irradiation mechanism 11 to the second section 1, ivy, nn
ZJ and opening cylindrical bearing body, with i, j: vertical "z" on the top
lo N+ line M1 (( Laser beam L downwards along
A laser oscillator 12 is installed to remove B from fat. 13 is a hollow cylindrical first bent arm;
38, insert the upper part of the bearing body 11 between the lower part of the bearing body 11 with a 1JJ sound, and insert it around the vertical center axis M1 (notch) in the Φ direction r.
aj) 'i is supported so as to be able to swing freely, and the vertical sound V
S18 a F'OiM forms a bending ffl+L-r horizontal sound 1s 13 b in the direction of the horizontal central axis M2, and an inclination τIJ that intersects water E from the tip of the horizontal part 131] and extends downward inwardly at an angle of 45°. An inclined portion 13c is formed in the 0-axis m M3 direction +ij+. , 14 is Kura iJR Kochi”
A forward/reverse motor with a speed reducer and a brake is fixedly installed in the middle part of the front member 9, and a downwardly extending protrusion J mat+ end (
The C drive gear 14a is fixed, and the drive tooth y-14a is meshed with the driven gear 15 fixed to the intermediate part of the vertical part 13a during operation.
The vertical center axis M of the nth bending arm 13 is rotated by the swinging system 11.

[This is Suno. 1, the hollow joint-shaped second bent arm, + side oblique part 167
The upper part of the inclined part 18 (fitted on the tip and able to swing freely around the inclined center axis M3 (in the direction of arrow αJj)) is formed into a plate 72, and the inclined center is moved from the lower part of the side inclined part 16b. 111-, extends inwardly at an angle of 45" to the axis M, 3, and always passes through the 111I + 1j middle L = intersection point of the center line M1 and the tilt center axis M, 3) 17 is a speed reducer fixed to the inclined portion 6a on the I-side side and a forward/reverse motor manufactured by Brake, which outputs an output extending to the inner lower blade. A driving gear 17a is fixed to the shaft end, 2, and the driving gear 17a is always meshed with a fracture gear 18 fixed to the front sloping part 16H, 1)
1) Recorder 17σ) Said second bending arm 16 for driving
The tilting center axis M31 can be controlled to swing (3), and the first and second bending arms 13 and 16 can also be controlled (7).
[force] constitutes one bent arm member. I9, 20, 21, and 22 are removably built in each bending part of the first and second bending arms 13 and 16, and four reflecting mirrors C are included; The laser beam LB is irradiated from the laser oscillator 12 by the Lfr condensing lens attached to the tip of the lens attachment part 16c, and the laser beam LB travels along the vertical central axis M1 in the direction of 71)-Ct, and is reflected and refracted by the reflecting mirror 19. - and proceed along the horizontal central axis M2;
In the same way as above, the reflection mirrors 20, 21, and 22 sequentially reflect and refract the light 7.
, #i along the oblique center axes M3 and M1 and the swing center axis M5, and finally pass through the condenser lens 23 and converge so that the intersection point P becomes the focal point. The operation for aligning this focal point with the intersection point P is performed by slightly moving the focusing lens 23 itself in the optical axis direction using a focus adjusting means (not shown).
conduct. Reference numeral 24 denotes a tapered gas injection nozzle attached to the tip of the lens attachment part 16c, which injects the auxiliary gas (usually oxygen) introduced from the gas supply pipe 24a toward the focal point (2), and is ejected by the laser beam LB. This is to assist in heating and melting the warp W. The laser processing robot l having the above-mentioned configuration is controlled by a separately provided control means built in a microcomputer (not shown), that is, the microcombi coater controls the workpiece W in the θ direction according to a predetermined process sequence stored in advance. rotation, movement of the entire laser irradiation mechanism 10 in the x-y-z direction, swinging of the first and second bending arms 18 and 16 in the Φ direction, and swinging of the second bending arm 16 in the α direction. etc., the optical axis of the laser beam LB is controlled to irradiate the workpiece W at a desired 6γ position at an optimal angle (in the case of fusing, it is better to be perpendicular to the surface of the workpiece W), and the workpiece is - RiW
This is a problem in automatically performing fusing and welding. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the laser oscillator 12 was installed on the support member 9 that moves in the X, Y, and Z directions, but the vibrations caused by the movement of the support shaft member 9 have an adverse effect on the laser oscillator as a precision instrument. If there is a possibility, a laser oscillator may be installed on the fixed part of the robot as shown in FIG. That is, the laser cutting robot 100 shown in FIG.
A laser oscillator 112 is installed on a support stand 111 fixed to the right side of the beam 105, and the oscillator 112 is arranged so as to irradiate a laser beam LB horizontally to the left above the beam 105. Upper 7 of the left-right moving body 106 , the right side of the front end of the front-back moving body 107 , the rear upper surface of the support member 109 extending to the right fixed to the lower end of the vertical moving body 108 , and the support member 1
Four 9 reflectors 113 to 11 with the same configuration on the front upper surface of 09
6 is permanently installed. As shown in detail in FIG. 4 for the reflector 118, each of the reflectors 118 to 116 has a cubic box shape and has openings 118a and 7 on the right side and front side, which are perpendicular to each other and adjacent to each other.
113b, and refracts and reflects the laser beam LB incident from one aperture 118a at right angles to the other aperture 113b.
A reflector MR is attached at an angle of 45° to the right side and front surface to emit more light. Other reflector 114
- 116 are arranged so that two openings are respectively provided on the rear surface/lower surface, the upper surface/front surface, and the rear surface/lower surface. The openings between the laser oscillator 112 and the reflectors 113, 114, and 115 are covered with expandable bellows 117, 118, and 119, and the openings between the reflectors 115 and 116 are covered with a fixed cylindrical body 120. covered. 110 is a laser irradiation mechanism having the same configuration as the laser irradiation mechanism 10 except that the laser oscillator 12 is removed;
The lower surfaces of the reflector 116 are connected to the upper surfaces rl of a bearing body (not shown) corresponding to the bearing body 11. As detailed above, according to the laser processing roboto of the present invention, the bending arm member that guides the laser beam from the laser oscillator is made swingable around the vertical center axis on the support member that can move in at least one dimension, By aligning the focus of the laser beam that passes through the condensing lens provided at the end of the bending arm member on the vertical central axis, the optical axis can be changed to the optimal posture for processing while keeping the focal position unchanged. Even when processing a complex curved surface, uniform processing conditions and a highly accurate finish can be expected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings all show embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view of a laser processing robot, Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken in the direction of arrow 11 in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a laser oscillator mounted on a robot. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of part 2 in FIG. 8. . In the figure, 9 is a support member, 12 is a laser oscillator, 13 is a first bending arm, 16 is a second bending arm, 23 is a condenser lens, and LB is a laser beam. Applicant's agent Takashi Higashi

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A laser irradiation mechanism is attached to a support member that can move in at least one dimension, and the relative position between the focal point of the laser beam irradiated from the laser irradiation mechanism and the workpiece can be controlled (7
In the laser processing robot, the laser irradiation mechanism includes a hollow bent arm member that supports the base rotatably around the vertical center axis on the support member, and a hollow bending arm member installed on the support member or a fixed part of the robot. a laser oscillator that can be installed to indirectly project a laser beam into the base along the vertical central axis via a telescoping refraction guide means; It consists of a plurality of laser beam refracting means for reflecting and guiding along the central axis of the bending arm member, and a condensing lens attached to the tip opening of the bending arm member, the laser beam passing through the condensing lens. A laser processing robot characterized in that the light is converged on the vertical central axis. (2) A laser processing robot according to claim 1, wherein the laser beam refraction means is a reflecting mirror. 3) The bending arm member is configured such that the first bending arm including the base portion and the second bending arm including the condensing lens are rotatable around an inclined center axis at 45° with respect to the horizontal, and the bending arm member is arranged such that the first bending arm including the base portion and the second bending arm including the condensing lens are rotatable around an inclined central axis at an angle of 45° with respect to the horizontal. The laser processing robot according to claim 1, which is coaxially fitted and supported. (4) The laser processing robot according to claim 1, which has an auxiliary gas injection nozzle installed around the tip opening. .