RU86129U1 - LASER CUTTING MACHINE - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Laser cutting installation comprising a bed (base) with a table for fixing parts, a support with a laser cutting head, a coordinate system for moving and positioning the support, equipped with drives and cable-carrying flexible boxes, and a laser optically coupled to a laser cutting head made with a cylindrical body equipped with a focusing lens and a conical nozzle, characterized in that the laser is made of ytterbium fiber, containing a fiber optic cable with a connector at the output, precision connected with a collimator equipped with an output hollow cylinder, articulated by a collimator with a cylindrical body of the laser cutting head. ! 2. The laser cutting installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the fiber optic cable is made passing from the laser source along the duct to the base of the machine and cable-bearing flexible ducts of the coordinate system for moving and positioning the caliper.

Description

Technical field

The invention relates to equipment for laser processing, and more specifically to methods and devices for dimensional processing of products of complex spatial shapes and can be used in technological processes for dimensional cutting of products from PCM in the aerospace industry, shipbuilding and other industries.

State of the art

There are two main schemes by which such laser complexes are created. In the first scheme, movement along one of the coordinates is carried out using a table with a part fixed on it.

A schematic diagram of a laser installation of the first type is presented in the prospectus for the laser complex "Laziontur Quinta" of the company "Messer Griesheim" (Germany) from 2000.

It works as follows.

The laser beam from the technological (CO ₂ laser) is transported through the hermetic path by a system of rotary water-cooled mirrors mounted on movable carriages to the optical head, where it is focused using the lens into the processing zone. Co-axially with the beam, the process gas is supplied to the treatment zone. The exhaust gas and decomposition products are sucked off during cutting, and then they are cleaned with filters using a special device.

The desktop and the design of the movement of the optical head itself is controlled by dynamic drives using CNC.

Similar complexes are produced by SVL (Belgium), Nippel Tovana Corporation (USA), Yamazaki Mazak Japan) and others.

The disadvantages of these complexes are:

low processing speeds;

a small (relatively) processing area;

A traditional system for transporting a laser beam to a processing zone using cooled mirrors, which leads to energy losses.

A 3D dimensional laser cutting machine is known, described in EP 1228836, B23K 37/04, 2001. The machine comprises a bed with a table moving horizontally along the X axis, a column with a support moving along the Y axis. The support carries a laser cutting head that can rotate around the vertical and horizontal axes.

The closest technical solution to the declared object, i.e. the prototype is a five-coordinate laser complex “Optimo-2545” by the company “Prima Industrie” (Italy) (Prospectus of the company “Prima Industrie” 2007)

The complex works as follows:

Traverse mounted on both sides of the slide, moving along the racks of the base with two linear drives (X coordinates);

The carriage is transverse, moved along the guides of the beam with the help of a similar engine (coordinates Y):

The slider moves vertically (Z coordinate) along the supports fixed on the transverse carriage with the help of a synchronous motor, through a gear-rack transmission;

The optical head is attached to the end face of the slider and from two circular synchronous motors it can rotate around the vertical Z axis (coordinate C) and the horizontal axis (coordinate B), at the end of the optical head there is a cutting head with a focusing lens, nozzle and sensor, which signal The program optical head maintains a constant gap between the nozzle and the surface of the workpiece (sixth coordinate).

The laser beam from the technological CO ₂ laser is transported through the sealed path using cooled stationary mirrors, then it is transported to the optical head with the help of mirrors mounted on moving carriages and then fed to the lens with the help of a controlled swivel mirror and a swivel mirror, which focuses the radiation on the workpiece.

Co-axially to the beam, the process gas is supplied to the cutting head, which removes the combustion products from the cutting zone, and then is sucked off and filtered by a special device.

The focal length can be varied according to the program within ± 7.5 mm with the help of a curvature-changing controlled swivel mirror located in the optical head.

The Primach 9000L CNC system, based on a standard personal computer, allows you to fully automatically control the complex.

Similar laser systems were also developed by the Trumpf company, the Lasercell 6005 laser complex (Germany), and the Mazak company (Japan), the Mazak X612 laser complex.

The main drawback of these complexes is the variable optical path using traditional cooled optical mirrors, which leads, firstly, to large energy losses (1-2% on each mirror), and secondly, the spatial characteristics of the beam change with a change in the distance from the laser to the processed product, which significantly affects the quality of the cut.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the invention is to develop a 5-coordinate laser system for dimensional processing of products of complex spatial shapes from PCM, which has lower energy losses of laser radiation, greater efficiency and allows you to process products of large dimensions, more than 4 m in length, with greater speed and with better cut quality .

The installation should be easy to operate, be universal, provide a direct perception of digital models of products created by the designer in a CAD environment, should be equipped with an effective device for suction of process gas and other decay products during laser processing.

The task is achieved in that in a laser cutting installation containing a bed with a table for fixing parts, a support with a laser cutting head, a coordinate system for moving and positioning the support, equipped with drives and cable-carrying flexible boxes, and a laser optically coupled to the laser cutting head made with a cylindrical body equipped with a focusing lens and a conical nozzle, a laser made with ytterbium fiber, containing an optical fiber cable with a connector at the output, precision connected with a collimator equipped with an output hollow cylinder, articulated by a collimator with a cylindrical body of the laser cutting head.

Moreover, in the laser cutting installation, the fiber-optic cable is made passing from the laser source along the box to the base of the machine and cable-bearing flexible boxes of the coordinate system for moving and positioning the caliper.

This installation allows you to reduce power loss, increase productivity, accuracy and quality of cut.

The list of figures in the drawings

The invention is illustrated by drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 - shows a General view of a laser installation for dimensional processing of products of complex spatial shapes;

- Figure 2. - shows a caliper with an installed laser cutting head, shown with a partial section along the axis.

Information confirming the feasibility of the invention.

The laser cutting installation in accordance with the invention comprises a bed (base) with a table for fixing parts, a support with a laser cutting head, a coordinate system for moving and positioning the support, equipped with drives and cable-bearing flexible boxes, and a laser optically coupled to the laser cutting head, made with a cylindrical body equipped with a focusing lens and a conical nozzle.

At the same time, the laser made by ytterbium fiber containing an output fiber optic cable with a connector precision connected to a collimator equipped with a hollow output cylinder is coupled by a collimator with a cylindrical body of the laser cutting head, and the fiber optic cable is made passing from the laser radiation source through box to the base of the machine and cable-bearing flexible boxes of the coordinate system for moving and positioning the caliper.

A preferred embodiment of the invention can be made in the form of an installation for dimensional processing of products of complex spatial shape from PCM, which is a five-coordinate laser technological complex. The complex consists of the following main parts:

- the machine part with the devices included in it;

- ytterbium fiber laser with fiber cable for transporting laser radiation to the cutting head.

In addition, the complex includes the following main components and devices:

- cabin;

- a device for removing and purifying gases from the zone;

- device of autonomous closed cooling;

- device for supplying pneumatic and electrical power;

- CNC control system;

- Remote Control.

The machine part contains a bed with a table for securing the workpieces and a coordinate system for moving and positioning the caliper bearing the laser cutting head. The coordinate system for moving and positioning the caliper is made in the form of a portal structure, which is justified by the large amount of displacements of the working bodies along the X and U coordinates. This arrangement provides higher structural rigidity than the console-type structure.

The bed 1 (See Figure 1.) is equipped with a table for fixing the workpieces and side racks, is fixed on the foundation and is the base unit for moving the beam 2 are fixed in two rows of guides of the beam 2.

Traverse 2 - the welded beam is mounted on a slide that is moved along the guides of the bed mounted on the upper planes of the left and right side racks of the bed (X coordinate). The traverse with the slide is moved by two linear drives operating synchronously.

The transverse carriage 3 is mounted movably on the yoke 2 and moves along the guides mounted on the upper surface of the yoke (coordinate Y) on four ball bearings. The movement is carried out by a similar linear drive.

The caliper is mounted on the lower end of the slider 4, mounted movably along the vertical axis (coordinate Z), moved by four ball bearings mounted motionlessly on the transverse carriage using a synchronous motor with a clearance-free planetary gearbox, via a rack and pinion gear. To unload the mass of the slider, as well as fixing its position when stopped, it is equipped with a pneumatic cylinder made with fixing the rod when the drive is turned off in the Z coordinate.

Cabin 6 is designed to protect the operator and maintenance personnel from harmful reflected and scattered radiation from the laser system. Cabin 6 covers the machine part of the complex from 4 sides with panels of steel sheet. For the convenience of servicing the complex from the side of loading and unloading parts, sliding sashes are provided that open across the entire width of the working area. In the same wings there are windows made of special protective glass for visual observation of the processing process.

The device for removing gases from the cutting zone is an autonomous system consisting of air ducts located on the frame 1 along the left and right racks. The air inlets are evenly spaced. Gassing takes place in the air intake closest to the cutting zone, from where the gases pass through the air duct to the gas suction and filtration unit, which cleans the air of harmful combustion products and dust and returns clean air to the workshop atmosphere.

The pneumatic power supply device 8 is intended for pneumatic power supply of engines for rectilinear movements X, U, Z and is carried out by means of flexible cable-carrying paths of the Ibusa form.

The cable support path is a flexible duct, the side walls of which are chain links. The links of one and the other chain are connected in pairs by strips, forming a closed loop. The rotation of the chain links relative to each other is possible only in one direction and at a certain angle, which determines the bending radius of the cable chain and is selected from the condition of the minimum allowable bending radius of the fiber optic cable itself.

At the same time, the complex is equipped with cable-carrying flexible ducts connecting respectively the bed with the traverse, the traverse with the transverse carriage, and the slider with the transverse carriage. The power supply for the angular movements B and C of the laser cutting head is carried out through the collector device.

An autonomous closed water cooling device 9 is intended for cooling elements of the l complex: laser, linear feed motors along the X, Y coordinates and the optical cutting head.

Pneumatic equipment 10 includes a system for drying and cleaning compressed air, as well as a system for regulating and supplying cutting gas.

The electrical equipment block 11 with a CNC-based control system ensures the operation of the complex in automatic mode according to the program from the central or auxiliary control panels 12.

The ytterbium fiber laser 13 provides an output power of up to 20 kW, and is made of ytterbium fiber, contains an optical fiber cable with a connector at the end.

The laser cutting head 5, mounted on a support 14, (see Figure 2.) mounted on the lower end of the slide 4 and has the ability to rotate around the vertical Z axis (coordinate C) and horizontal axis (coordinate B) from two built-in toroidal synchronous motors.

The laser cutting head 5 is fixed to the caliper 14 using a rotary bracket 15. The laser cutting head 5 consists of three detachable parts: the adapter 16, the collimator 17 and the optical focusing head 18. In this case, the collimator 17 and the optical focusing head 18 are connected between themselves using the flange 19 of the swivel bracket 15 and screws.

The adapter 16 is a hollow cylinder, in the upper part of which there is a seat for precision connection with the connector 20 of the fiber optic cable 21 (QBH-type connector), and in the lower part there is a flange for connecting coaxially with the collimator 17.

The collimator 17 is a cylindrical body, in the upper part of which a two-component lens is mounted at a distance of the focal length from the end of the connector, converting the diverging laser beam into a parallel one, and the lower end of the body is coaxially connected to the optical focusing head 18.

The optical focusing head 18 consists of a cylindrical body, the focusing lens 22 is inserted into the upper part of it. The body with the lens has the ability to move in a horizontal plane in two mutually perpendicular directions for more accurate alignment with the optical axis of the laser beam, also in a vertical plane along the Z coordinate for more accurate focusing on the work surface.

The collimator body is cooled with the help of disciled water supplied through the fittings available on the cutting head. To the lower part of the cylindrical body of the optical focusing head 18, a cone nozzle 24 is attached using a union nut 23, which ends with a sensor 25 and an output mouthpiece 26 with an opening of 0.8 mm.

In the cone nozzle 24 there is a fitting for supplying the process gas coaxially with the laser beam, which serves to protect the treated surface from carbonization and product removal during laser cutting into the suction system.

To transport the output radiation of the laser 13 to the laser cutting head 5, a fiber-optic cable is used, which passes through the box to the bed 1, where it enters, together with other cables and hoses of pneumatic power supply, a cable-carrying flexible box connecting the bed 1 with the movable traverse 2 - coordinate X.

Next, the fiber optic cable goes into a flexible box connecting the yoke 2 with a transverse carriage 3 moving along the Y coordinate, and then goes into a flexible box connecting the transverse carriage 3 with a slider 4 moving along the Z coordinate.

The complex for laser dimensional processing of products of complex spatial shape from PCM works as follows.

The operator controls the complex using the device-human-machine interface, which is installed in the operator’s console.

The workpiece is loaded onto a table mounted in the machine part of the bed 1 Then, the laser 13 is turned on from the control panel 12 and the laser program required for the workpiece is selected, which includes the required output power and laser radiation parameters, commands for enabling movement across all 5 coordinates of the laser cutting head, commands for supplying process gas to the nozzle, and other auxiliary commands controlling the process. At the operator’s command from the control panel, the laser beam from the laser is transported via fiber-optic cable 21 to the cutting head, which has the ability to provide perpendicularity to the surface being machined by turning the optical head by toroidal motors, and using the signal from the sensor, the 3D-regulation function, which is software function CNC maintain constant distance between the mouthpiece 26 and the workpiece.

Next, the collimated collimator laser beam is directed to the interchangeable focusing lens 22 and is focused on the workpiece. The particles of material and products formed during laser cutting are removed by the process gas supplied under pressure through a nozzle coaxially with the laser beam into the nozzle. The spent process gas then enters the suction system, where it is filtered and discharged into the production room.

After executing the program, the technological laser is turned off, and the optical head returns to its original position, and so the cycle can be repeated until another command or program is entered.

The fixed position of the product allows to ensure stable processing conditions from a single installation, both cutting along the outer contour and cutting internal grooves and holes, and low weight (the absence of optical mirrors in the optical head) allows you to increase the processing speed in X, Y, Z coordinates up to 80 m / min

The transportation of laser radiation from the process laser to the processing zone with a fiber cable with an energy loss of less than 0.5% and high optical radiation quality <2.5 mm.mrad. In fact, they do not limit the sizes X, Y, Z of the working processing zone, which will allow processing large-sized products, limited only by the design of the machine itself.

Using the invention allows:

- to reduce the energy loss of the laser complex by 25% due to the use of a more economical ytterbium fiber laser with an efficiency of = 29%, while the use of technological CO ₂ laser today has an efficiency of 16%, as well as the use of a fiber optic path instead of traditional mirrors in transportation of laser radiation to the processing zone (losses are 12%);

- improve the quality of cut of the processed products in the far cutting zone, since the structure of the laser beam at any point in the working area remains constant in contrast to the known complexes where the laser beam is transported by mirrors;

- increase the working area of the product processing (it is limited only by the structural dimensions of the machine part itself), because the length of the fiber optic cable is more than 30 m, and the energy loss in it is 0.5%; therefore, it allows you to transport laser radiation without loss to anywhere in the machine part of the complex;

- increase the working speed of the optical head by reducing its weight (there are no two cooled rotary mirrors).

Claims (2)

1. Laser cutting installation comprising a bed (base) with a table for fixing parts, a support with a laser cutting head, a coordinate system for moving and positioning the support, equipped with drives and cable-carrying flexible boxes, and a laser optically coupled to a laser cutting head made with a cylindrical body equipped with a focusing lens and a conical nozzle, characterized in that the laser is made of ytterbium fiber, containing a fiber optic cable with a connector at the output, precision connected with a collimator equipped with an output hollow cylinder, articulated by a collimator with a cylindrical body of the laser cutting head. 2. The laser cutting installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the fiber optic cable is made passing from the laser source along the duct to the base of the machine and cable-bearing flexible ducts of the coordinate system for moving and positioning the caliper.