Patent Application
20180071865
The present disclosure is based on, and claims priority from, Taiwan Application Number 105129291, filed Sep. 9, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to laser machining devices and laser machining scrap removal devices, and, more particularly, to a laser machining device and a laser machining scrap removal device for large scale processing.
With the rapid development in the touch panel industry, protective glass substrates are becoming thinner and their strengths are enhanced. The traditional CNC mechanical drilling process is facing a bottleneck. On the other hand, non-contact laser drilling technology capable of drilling on high-strength substrates is gradually gaining popularity over traditional CNC mechanical drilling process.
Laser drilling can be generally divided into small-area single-point drilling and large-area regional drilling. Traditional laser nozzles are typically designed for single-point drilling. The diameter of the drilling range is typically less than 2.5 mm. If large-area regional drilling (with a diameter greater than 10 mm or more) is desired, a biaxial (X-axis and Y-axis) mobile platform is required in conjunction with the traditional laser nozzle in order to realize large-area regional drilling. However, since the biaxial mobile platform moves at a relatively low speed, it is difficult to raise the production speed of the laser drilling process. In view of this, galvanometric scanner is also used in cooperation with the traditional laser nozzle in the hope of increasing the drilling efficiency with high scanning frequency of the galvanometric scanner.
In theory, the conventional laser nozzle and the galvanometric scanner together may increase the drilling speed, but in actual practice, the drilling speed of the conventional laser nozzle in conjunction with the galvanometric scanner is limited by the scrap removal speed. More specifically, scrap removal is currently done through gas. The enlargement of the aperture will increase the range the gas could cover. However, expanding the range that can be covered by the gas would result in a decrease in the pressure of the scrap removal gas. This reduces the effectiveness of scrap removal gas, which makes it difficult to improve the drilling efficiency and quality of the laser drilling treatment. Therefore, there is a need for a solution that improves the drilling efficiency and quality of the laser drilling equipment during drilling of large-aperture holes.
The present disclosure provides a laser machining device and a laser machining scrap removal device that improve drilling efficiency and quality of the laser drilling equipment during large-scale processing.
In a laser machining device and a laser machining scrap removal device disclosed in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the laser machining device includes a laser generating component, a light moving component, a gas source and the laser machining scrap removal device. The laser generating component is used for generating a laser beam. The light moving component is positioned along the path of the laser beam to make the laser beam move along an annular machining path. The laser beam passes through an optical channel. The gas source is located on the laser machining scrap removal device for providing an airflow.
In accordance with the laser machining device and the laser machining scrap removal device described in the embodiment above, with a design of the internal flow path of the laser machining scrap removal device, the speed of the ejected gas is increased, which lowers the pressure of the suction region and produces suction for the area of the workpiece being laser treated, thereby achieving scrap removal, and in turn, improving the drilling efficiency and quality of the laser machining device. Moreover, a plurality of gas inlets can also be provided on the laser machining scrap removal device to enable a plurality of flow channels simultaneously. As such, the laser machining scrap removal area is increased, and a large-area laser machining scrap removal device is realized.
The present disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring to
A laser machining device 10 according to the present disclosure performs drilling on the workpiece 20 to form a hole 22 on a surface to be processed 21 of the workpiece 20. The laser machining device 10 includes a laser generating component 100, a light moving component 200, a gas source 400 and the laser machining scrap removal device 300. In an embodiment, the light moving component 200 and the laser machining scrap removal device 300 are integrated as one during operation. In another embodiment, the light moving component 200 and the laser machining scrap removal device 300 operate separately. When the light moving component 200 and the laser machining scrap removal device 300 are operated separately, the laser machining scrap removal device 300 can be situated above the workpiece 20.
The laser generating component 100 is used for generating a laser beam L. In an embodiment, the laser beam L is an ultraviolet laser, a semiconductor green light, a near-infrared laser light or a far-infrared laser light.
In an embodiment, the light moving component 200 is a trepan optical module or a galvanometric scanning module, and is positioned along the optical path of the laser beam L. The laser beam L driven by the light moving component 200 thus moves along an annular machining path. The annular machining path is on the surface to be processed 21 of the workpiece 20, and the annular machining path is the perimeter of the hole 22. In an embodiment, the annular machining path is circular, and the diameter of the annular machining path is greater than or substantially equal to 1 millimeter. In an embodiment, the annular machining path is circular, square, triangular, or star-shaped.
The laser machining scrap removal device 300 includes a space 370, a nozzle 320, at least one gas inlet 330 provided corresponding to one side of the nozzle 320, at least one gas outlet 340 provided on the other side of the nozzle 320, and a protective lens 350. The space 370 is formed underneath the protective lens 350 and between the gas inlet 330 and the gas outlet 340.
An optical channel 310 includes a central axis A. The laser beam L travels through the optical channel 310, and circles inside the optical channel 310 along the annular machining path.
The gas inlet 330 is on one side of the laser machining scrap removal device 300, and is in communication with the space 370.
In an embodiment, for illustration purpose, the gas inlet 330 is one in number. In another embodiment, the gas inlet 330 is two or more in number.
Refer to
The gas source 400 is connected to the plurality of gas inlets 330 of the nozzle 320 via one or more ducts 410 in order to provide a high pressure gas. In an embodiment, the gas is a continuous stream or a pulsed stream.
Furthermore, the airflow P produced by the gas source 400 is turned into high-speed airflow after passing through the tapered gas inlet 330, and this airflow blows any scrap materials in the space 370 towards the gas outlet 340. As such, the efficiency of the airflow P in removing the scrap materials is improved, which helps to increase the drilling efficiency of the laser machining device 10. In actual testing, it takes about 58 seconds to drill a hole having a diameter of 1 mm using a conventional laser machining device, and during the process, dust is accumulated on the surface to be processed of the workpiece. By contrast, it takes about 32 seconds to drill a hole with the same diameter using the laser machining device 10 of an embodiment according to the present disclosure, and no dust is accumulated on the surface to be processed 21 of the workpiece 20 during the process. Moreover, a conventional laser machining device cannot drill a hole having a diameter less than 0.5 mm without the aid of the laser machining scrap removal device 300 according to the present disclosure. It takes about 21 seconds to drill a hole with a diameter of 0.5 mm using the laser machining device 10 of an embodiment according to the present disclosure. Thus, the tests show that the airflow P produced by the laser machining scrap removal device 300 can indeed improve the drilling efficiency and quality of the laser machining device 10.
In accordance with the laser machining device and the laser machining scrap removal device described in embodiments above, with the design of the internal flow path of the laser machining scrap removal device, the speed of the ejected gas is increased, which lowers the pressure of the suction region and produces suction for the area of the workpiece being laser treated, thereby achieving scrap removal, and in turn, improving the drilling efficiency and quality of the laser machining device.
In addition to the design of the internal flow path of the laser machining scrap removal device above, the structure of the laser machining scrap removal device of the present disclosure is simple. By way of suction, contamination resulting from blowing air stream onto the surface of the workpiece can be avoided, this further enhances the drilling efficiency and quality of the laser machining device.
The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the principles of the present disclosure, and should not be construed as to limit the present disclosure in any way. The above embodiments can be modified by those with ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined in the following appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 105129291 | Sep 2016 | TW | national |
