JP2001062652A - Laser and water jet combined processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To drill or cut by utilizing the respective advantages of laser processing and water jet processing, and by ensuring that the melting step and the removal step are performed securely and at the processing part of the workpiece. And a combined processing method and apparatus of a laser and a water jet that enable the laser beam and the water jet. SOLUTION: In a combined laser / water jet processing apparatus provided with a laser head 1 and a water jet head 2 for independently irradiating a laser beam and jetting a water jet, a laser beam from the laser head 1 is used. The apparatus further includes an intermittent injection control means for controlling the water jet from the water jet head 2 to intermittently jet the water jet from the molten portion of the workpiece.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a combined machining method and apparatus for machining a workpiece by using a laser and a water jet, and more particularly, to a method of applying a laser beam to a molten portion of a workpiece melted by irradiation of a laser beam. The present invention relates to a technique for reliably removing a molten portion while intermittently jetting and cooling a jet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Laser processing and water jet processing are used for processing a wide range of materials such as metal materials, ceramics, and fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) materials, for example, for drilling and cutting. In laser processing, a workpiece is heated and melted by irradiation with laser light, and the melted portion is blown off with a gas jet (eg, oxygen, nitrogen, air, etc.)
Perform processing. On the other hand, in the water jet processing, processing is performed by blowing off a jetted portion by kinetic energy of high-pressure water jetted from a nozzle. In water jet processing, there are cases in which only water is sprayed, and cases in which an abrasive is mixed with water to spray a mixed liquid. Equal processing capacity is increased.

[0003]

The processing speed of laser processing is high, but the processing capability is limited by the laser output of a laser generator.

[0004] In addition, only laser processing melts a workpiece, but cannot perform processing efficiently. Therefore, a gas jet that blows off the molten portion is used for processing, but depending on the use environment, there is a risk of ignition of the oxygen used as the gas jet, so it was necessary to take sufficient measures for safety.

In the case of water jet processing using only water, the processing capacity is limited and the cutting start position is also restricted. For example, since it is not possible to start cutting from a place where there is no end as in the case of blanking, hole cutting is performed first, and cutting is performed after penetration. In other words, at the cutting start position at the time of the hollowing operation of the workpiece, the water jet fixed-point injection operation by the water jet takes a considerable time, so that a separate step of making a hole in advance at the cutting start position is required.

Therefore, as an alternative configuration of the gas jet,
Focusing on safer water jets, the development of combined machining technology by combining laser processing and water jet processing has been continued. However, when laser beam irradiation and water jet injection are performed simultaneously, water jet injection water intervenes at the processing point where the laser light is irradiated,
There has been a problem that the workpiece cannot be melted by the laser beam and the processing itself such as drilling is not performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and utilizes a laser processing and a water jet processing, each of which is capable of performing a safe and reliable processing. It is intended to provide a device.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in the first aspect is directed to irradiating a laser beam and jetting a water jet on the same machined portion of a workpiece with different axes. A combined laser and water jet processing method for applying a laser beam, characterized in that a water jet is intermittently jetted to a processed portion of a workpiece melted by irradiating a laser beam.

In the present invention, the laser beam irradiation and the water jet injection are configured to be applied to the workpiece separately and independently, so that the laser beam irradiation and the water jet injection are simultaneously performed. The processing method is such that a water jet can be intermittently jetted to a processing point where laser light is continuously irradiated without being applied to a workpiece. In other words, when the water jet is not jetted, the workpiece is reliably melted by the laser beam, and only when the water jet is jetted to the melted portion, the melt is blown off by the jet flow and removed. Drilling and cutting are now possible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser head for irradiating a workpiece with laser light to melt the workpiece, and a laser head arranged near the laser head and having a different axis from the laser light irradiation axis. It is characterized by comprising a water jet head for jetting to the melting portion, and intermittent jet control means for controlling so that the liquid can be jetted intermittently from the water jet head.

In the present invention, by arranging the heads so that the irradiation of the laser beam and the injection of the water jet have different axes, the uniqueness of each processing can be secured.
In addition, each processing control can be performed independently. In particular, since the intermittent injection control means is provided so that the water jet can be intermittently injected, the injection action and the stop action of the water jet injection flow can be reliably controlled.

As the intermittent injection control means, if the injection to the processing point is performed intermittently, the injection itself is stopped by using an on / off valve, or the injection flow is interrupted by a shielding plate or the like to cut the processing point. , Or by moving the injection nozzle to move the injection point.

[Action]

With the above arrangement, the step of melting the workpiece at the processing point by the irradiation of the laser beam from the laser head and the step of removing the molten material by the jet flow from the water jet head can be reliably and independently controlled. As a result, the phenomenon that the laser beam and the jet flow simultaneously hit the processing point and the processing itself is not performed as in the conventional combined processing using laser and water jet can be avoided, and the processing can be performed reliably. In other words, after the processing point of the workpiece is melted while the laser beam is being oscillated, the hole processing of blowing off the molten material at the processing point by the intermittent jet flow has become possible. When the hole processing is completed, the cutting processing can be easily performed by moving the irradiation of the laser beam and moving the jet flow of the water jet to follow it.

[0014] Even if water remains on the workpiece, there is no problem in that a small amount of water remains because irradiation with laser light alone is performed and melting starts after the water first evaporates. In other words, the main processing is possible even if the injection and the stop of the jet flow from the water jet head are repeated.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual explanatory schematic view showing an example of a combined processing apparatus of laser and water jet according to the present invention. This combined machining apparatus includes a laser head 1, a water jet head 2, and a water jet head 2 for performing actual machining on a workpiece 10.
A processing head unit 4 comprising an on-off valve 3 as an intermittent injection control means for intermittently performing injection from the
It mainly comprises a laser generator 5 for generating laser light and a high-pressure water generator 6 for pressurizing the liquid.

The laser beam output from the laser generator 5 is sent to a laser head 1 disposed perpendicular to a workpiece 10 via an optical fiber 7, and a condensing lens provided in the laser head 1. 8, the light is condensed and irradiated on the processed portion of the workpiece 10. Note that the configuration of the present laser head 1 is merely an example, and it goes without saying that any combination of the optical system means provided in the laser head 1 may be used as long as the laser beam can be condensed and irradiated on the workpiece 10. .

A pressurized liquid (hereinafter, referred to as high-pressure water) pressurized by the high-pressure water generator 6 is sent to a water jet head 2 disposed near the periphery of the laser head 1 through a high-pressure hose 9. High-pressure water is intermittently jetted toward the molten portion of the workpiece 10 through a nozzle provided in the water jet head 2 by opening and closing control of the on / off valve 3.

A description will be given of a case in which a hole and a cutting are performed by using the combined laser and water jet processing apparatus configured as described above.

Even if the laser beam 12 and the high-pressure water 13 are simultaneously applied to the processing section 11 of the workpiece 10, the workpiece 10 is not melted. Irradiation is performed to melt the workpiece 10 in the processing unit 11 (melting step). Since drilling and cutting cannot be performed only by melting with the laser beam 12, high-pressure water 13 sprayed from the water jet head 2 is applied to the melted portion to blow off the melted portion for processing (removal step). After removing the melted portion, the high-pressure water injection from the water jet head 2 is stopped, and the workpiece 10 is irradiated with only the laser beam 12 to form a melted portion. The high-pressure water 13 is again injected into the processing section 11 to blow off the newly formed molten portion. As described above, by performing the intermittent control of the high-pressure water injection, the hole processing is performed while repeatedly performing the “melting step” for surely forming the molten portion and the “removing step” for reliably removing the molten portion, and then performing the laser head operation. By moving the water jet head 1 and the water jet head 2 or the workpiece by a moving means (not shown), cutting can be performed.

The discharge pressure of the high-pressure water itself is set to 150
Depending on the material of the workpiece, if the pressure is increased to MPa to 250 MPa, it is possible to drill and cut only high-pressure water, so that not only the action of blowing off the melted portion by laser light but also the action of high-pressure water processing is added. In addition, the combined machining capacity is further increased, and the machining time for hole machining and cutting is reduced.

As described above, in the present invention, it is important to control the structure so as to reliably and intermittently blow off the melted portion of the workpiece by the laser beam. In addition, about the means,
Various injection control configurations are possible in addition to the control configuration using the on-off valve described above. Therefore, FIGS. 2 and 3 show enlarged schematic views of a processing head portion of the multifunctional processing apparatus according to another embodiment.

First, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The laser head 21 is arranged perpendicular to the workpiece 10 similarly to the first embodiment, and continuously irradiates the workpiece 10 with laser light output from a laser generator. The water jet head 22,
As in the first embodiment, the water jet head 2 is arranged to be inclined near the periphery of the laser head 21.
2 is fixed so as to impinge on the processing portion 11 (melting portion) of the workpiece 10 irradiated with the laser light from the laser head 21. As the intermittent injection control means,
A baffle plate 23 with a slit hole is arranged so as to cover the jet flow of the water jet head 22, and the baffle plate 23 is rotated by a motor 24 to allow the jet flow to pass only from the slit hole, or a baffle plate itself. The structure is such that the jet flow is shielded by rotating or reciprocating motion. That is,
The high-pressure water jetted from the water jet head 22 is configured to intermittently hit the molten portion only intermittently due to the shielding effect of the baffle plate.

A third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The configuration of the laser head 31 is the same as the other embodiments described above. In the present embodiment, the water jet head 32 itself is devised. The water jet head 32 is configured such that the nozzle jetting part 33 is eccentric from the center of rotation of the head so that the jet flow hits the processing part 11 of the workpiece 10. It is configured such that intermittent injection control can be performed by rotating the nozzle injection unit with a motor 34.

The operation of the processing section 11 according to the second and third embodiments is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted. The important point is the control configuration that injects high-pressure water.

[0025]

As described above, according to the combined processing method and apparatus of laser and water jet of the present invention, the "melting step" by laser light
And the "removal process" by the water jet can be reliably performed, and the conventional unstable machining can be safely performed by stable machining.

Further, since the processing is performed by blowing off the molten portion melted by the laser beam with the jet flow, the processing start point is not restricted and processing can be performed from any part of the workpiece.
The machining efficiency has also been improved because the separate drilling process required for cutting using only the conventional water jet is not required.

Furthermore, since a water jet is used without using a gas jet, there is no fear of fire or explosion unlike conventional laser processing, and a cooling effect can be expected because the heat affected layer in the processed portion is small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual explanatory schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic diagram illustrating a processing head unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic diagram illustrating a processing head unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 21, 31: Laser head 2, 22, 32: Water jet head 3: On / off valve 5: Laser generator 6: High pressure water generator 7: Optical fiber 8: Condensing lens 9: High pressure hose 10: Workpiece 23: Baffle plate 33: Nozzle injection unit

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Naoto Ando 2-12-1, Kugata, Tenpaku-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Institute of Technology (72) Inventor Ryoji Muratsubaki 2410 Motoe, Uozu-shi, Toyama Pref. ) Inventor Nobuo Nishida 2410 Motoe, Uozu-shi, Toyama Pref. Inside of Sugino Machine Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasunobu Nakagawa 2410 Motoe Uezu-shi, Toyama Pref. In Fugino Machine Co., Ltd. AE01 AF01 CH08

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A combined laser and water jet processing method in which laser light irradiation and water jet injection are applied to the same processing portion of a workpiece with different axes, respectively, and the laser beam irradiation and the water jet irradiation are performed. A combined processing method of a laser and a water jet, wherein a water jet is intermittently jetted to a processing portion of a molten workpiece. 2. A laser head for irradiating a workpiece with a laser beam to melt the workpiece, and disposed near the laser head as a different axis from an irradiation axis of the laser beam, and injects a liquid to a melting portion by the laser beam. A combined laser and water jet processing apparatus, comprising: a water jet head; and an intermittent ejection control unit that controls so that the liquid can be ejected intermittently from the water jet head.