Laser processing method, laser processing apparatus, and output control device of laser processing apparatus

Inventor: Masahiro Mori (Osaka, JP)

Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.

B23K26/0006 B23K26/032 B23K26/0626 B23K26/60 G06T7/0004 B23K2103/10 B23K2103/12 G06T2207/30136 G06T2207/30164

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12,686,075
App. No.: 17/903,573
Granted: Jul 21, 2026
Kind: B2

External Links

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Abstract

A laser processing apparatus of the present disclosure controls outputs of a blue laser oscillator and an infrared laser oscillator such that before a surface melting is detected on a workpiece, the workpiece is irradiated with at least blue laser light, and after the surface melting is detected on the workpiece, a power of infrared laser light with which the workpiece is irradiated is increased as compared to before the surface melting is detected.

Claims (31)

1 . A laser processing apparatus comprising:

a laser configured to form blue laser light and infrared laser light to irradiate a workpiece; and

an output controller configured to control a power of the blue laser light and a power of the infrared laser light output by the laser, the output controller being further configured to control the laser to:

before a surface of the workpiece begins to melt, irradiate the workpiece with the blue laser light to initiate surface melting of the workpiece, and

after the surface of the workpiece begins to melt, increase a power of the infrared laser light irradiating the workpiece to a level higher than a level of a power of the infrared laser light before the surface of the workpiece began to melt.

2 . The laser processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the output controller is further configured to cause the laser to:

before the surface of the workpiece begins to melt, irradiate the workpiece with the infrared laser light having a power lower than a predetermined threshold value in addition to irradiating the workpiece with the blue laser light, and

after the surface of the workpiece begins to melt, irradiate the workpiece with the infrared laser light having a power higher than or equal to the predetermined threshold value.

3 . The laser processing apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising a melting detector configured to detect melting of a surface of the workpiece,

wherein the melting detector includes a light detector configured to detect an amount of reflected light reflected from the workpiece, and configured to detect melting of the surface of the workpiece based on a power of reflected light of the infrared laser light, irradiating the workpiece before the surface of the workpiece begins melting, having the power lower than the predetermined threshold value.

4 . The laser processing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the melting detector includes a capture unit configured to image a surface of the workpiece, and to detect melting of the surface of the workpiece based on a captured image by the capture unit.

5 . The laser processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the output controller is further configured to cause the laser to:

after the surface of the workpiece begins to melt, irradiate the workpiece with the blue laser light in addition to irradiating the workpiece with the infrared laser light having a power higher than or equal to the predetermined threshold value, and

increase or decrease a power of the blue laser light after the surface of the workpiece has begun to melt, depending on a state of the surface melting.

6 . The laser processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the output controller is further configured to set a power of the infrared laser light at zero before the surface of the workpiece begins melting.

7 . A laser processing method comprising:

irradiating a workpiece with blue laser light; and

irradiating the workpiece with infrared laser light,

wherein the irradiating of the workpiece is performed by using the laser processing apparatus of claim 1 .

8 . The laser processing method of claim 7 ,

wherein the workpiece is irradiated with blue laser light at an initial processing stage to initiate a surface melting of the workpiece; and

wherein, after of the surface melting has started, the workpiece is irradiated with infrared laser light having a power higher than a power of infrared laser light before the start of the surface melting.

9 . The laser processing method of claim 8 ,

wherein, during the initial processing stage, the workpiece is irradiated with infrared laser light having a power lower than a predetermined threshold value in addition to the blue laser light,

wherein the start of the surface melting is detected based on reflected light of the infrared laser light having the power lower than the predetermined threshold value from the workpiece, and

wherein the irradiating of the workpiece with the infrared laser light after the start of the surface melting comprises irradiating of the workpiece with the infrared laser light having a power higher than or equal to the predetermined threshold value.

10 . The laser processing method of claim 8 ,

wherein, during the initial processing stage, the workpiece is irradiated with infrared laser light in addition to the blue laser light, and, after the start of the surface melting, the workpiece is irradiated with blue laser light in addition to the infrared laser light, and

wherein a power of the blue laser light with which the workpiece is irradiated after the start of the surface melting is controlled to increase or decrease depending on a state of the surface melting.

11 . The laser processing method of claim 8 , wherein the infrared laser light has a power of zero before the start of the surface melting.