A laser-coupled TBM cutter head and its laser cutting head

Abstract

This invention designs a laser rock-breaking cutting head, comprising a housing and an optical lens assembly. The optical lens assembly is disposed within the housing and includes a convex lens and an open-aperture concave lens. The convex lens and the open-aperture concave lens are arranged at a certain distance apart. A through hole is formed at the center of the open-aperture concave lens. After a conventional laser beam exits through the open-aperture concave lens, a distributed laser is generated, which includes a conventional laser beam passing directly through the through hole and a refracted beam generated by refraction through the solid area of ​​the concave lens. This invention also designs a laser-coupled TBM cutter head, wherein: the laser rock-breaking cutting head is mounted on the cutter head and positioned between adjacent roller cutters; the laser cutting machine main unit is mounted on the rear of the TBM; the stator of the beam transmission slip ring is fixed to the main frame, and the rotor of the beam transmission slip ring is fixed to the cutter head. This invention can fundamentally solve the problem of excessive glass glaze formation caused by the excessively high power density of conventional lasers, improve rock-breaking efficiency, and effectively shorten the construction cycle and reduce tool wear costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of rock and soil drilling technology, and in particular to a laser-coupled TBM (tunnel boring machine) cutterhead and a laser cutting head capable of generating distributed laser light. Background Technology

[0002] Existing circular lasers (traditional lasers) can be applied to tunnel excavation in highways and mines. Under high-energy laser irradiation, rock masses absorb a large amount of energy in a short time, leading to rock fragmentation, melting, and vaporization, and producing macroscopic groove morphology, thus achieving the purpose of rock breaking. However, due to the excessively concentrated power density of traditional lasers, coupled with the heterogeneity of natural rocks, poor thermal conductivity, and lack of timely purging, a large amount of lava generated in local locations of the rock mass cools and solidifies on the groove wall of the laser cut, forming a smooth glassy covering layer (glass glaze). Studies have shown that the presence of glass glaze leads to the following limitations of traditional laser rock breaking: 1) With the increase of laser power, the laser energy efficiency and rock breaking effect no longer increase significantly. This is because the large amount of glass glaze generated not only reduces the macroscopic rock breaking effect of the laser (such as the width and depth of the groove) but also inhibits the transmission of laser energy to deeper rock layers; 2) Glass glaze acts like an adhesive, continuously bonding existing rock cracks, thus hindering the extension and convergence of macroscopic and microscopic cracks, reducing the rock breaking effect. Researchers have attempted to suppress the formation of glass glaze by addressing issues such as laser irradiation modes, cooling techniques, and surface pretreatment. However, due to the failure to fundamentally alter the wavefront shape and highly focused optical characteristics of traditional lasers, the results have been minimal.

[0003] Besides simply using traditional lasers for rock breaking, applying laser rock breaking technology to large-scale rock (coal, coal, ore) cutting equipment such as TBMs, roadheaders, drilling rigs, and open-pit mining machines (hereinafter referred to as cutting equipment) faces the following challenges that urgently need to be addressed: 1) Unlike traditional lasers used for cutting materials such as metal plates, acrylic plates, and glass plates on the ground, or for vertical drilling to cut rock layers, the underground excavation environment of cutting equipment such as TBMs is extremely harsh. Rock debris, mud, and other external substances can cause severe damage to the optical lens assembly, thus reducing the reliability of traditional laser cutting heads; 2) In order to ensure that the cutting depth and cutting speed continuously generated by traditional lasers are consistent with the penetration of traditional roller cutters continuously rotating and rolling to break rock, the following difficulties need to be addressed. Matching the depth of cut (cut depth) with the rolling speed of rock breaking necessitates a significant increase in laser power, which will undoubtedly exacerbate the formation of glass glaze. The adverse consequences are twofold: firstly, a large amount of glass glaze, after cooling, adheres to the cutting surface, re-bonding macroscopic and microscopic cracks already formed in the rock under thermal and mechanical stress. This, in turn, inhibits the expansion and convergence of lateral cracks between adjacent cutters, leading to low rock breaking efficiency; secondly, glass glaze is mainly composed of silicon dioxide, therefore its hardness is higher than the original rock. After breaking, it acts as abrasive particles at the cutter-rock interface, thus accelerating the wear rate of the cutter. Currently, there are no reports on fundamentally suppressing glass glaze formation by addressing the beam forming principle; 3) Traditional laser cutting heads will adopt... Using an additional nozzle for unidirectional side-blowing to physically suppress glass glaze formation has the following problems: First, unidirectional side-blowing requires additional nozzles and corresponding nozzle protection devices, resulting in high implementation costs, an insufficiently compact structure, and susceptibility to damage from rock debris. Second, the nozzle's distance from the circular laser spot in the laser core area leads to a significant pressure drop in the purging air, resulting in low purging efficiency and incomplete purging. Third, unidirectional purging easily blows lava onto the rolling and rock-breaking path of adjacent cutters, causing contact between the cutter ring and the glass glaze, resulting in severe abrasive wear on the cutter ring. Fourth, the existing nozzle's purging range is insufficient to completely cover the width of the laser-cut groove, leading to... Glass enamel remains on both sides of the groove wall of the laser cutting; simply increasing the size and nozzle diameter of the existing nozzle cannot effectively solve this problem, because this will significantly increase the specifications of the gas delivery components, the airtightness requirements and the power of the gas station; 4) The geological conditions of the rock strata where the TBM is located are complex and varied, and there are many types of rocks on the face of the tunnel. The physical and mechanical properties of the rocks are very different. However, the optical lens group of the existing traditional laser cutting head has fixed parameters such as type, size, lens distance and object distance (hereinafter referred to as lens-object distance), so it is difficult to flexibly adapt to the high-efficiency cutting needs under different rock strata; 5) The kinematic characteristics of the cutting part of the TBM, such as the cutter head, are complex, making it difficult to directly couple the traditional laser cutting head to the cutting part. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides a laser cutting head, comprising a housing and an optical lens assembly disposed within the housing; the optical lens assembly includes a convex lens and an open-aperture concave lens disposed at a certain distance apart; the open-aperture concave lens has a through hole with a diameter of d4 at its center; the initial focused beam generated by the laser cutting machine host, after being incident on the convex lens, produces a laser beam with a diameter of d1, where d4 < d1; the laser beam, after exiting through the open-aperture concave lens, produces a direct laser beam that passes directly through the through hole, and a refracted beam that is refracted by the solid area of ​​the concave lens.

[0005] Furthermore, it also includes a mirror distance adjustment component disposed within the housing for adjusting the distance l1.

[0006] Furthermore, the lens distance adjustment assembly includes a guide rod, a lead screw, a movable lens mount, a prime mover, and a transmission assembly. The movable lens mount is used to hold the convex lens. The guide rod and the lead screw respectively movably pass through both ends of the movable lens mount. The guide rod is fixed to the housing, and the lead screw is rotatably disposed within the housing. The prime mover is used to drive the lead screw to rotate, causing the movable lens mount to move along the guide rod.

[0007] Furthermore, the optical lens assembly also includes an aperture convex lens disposed after the aperture concave lens; the distance between the aperture convex lens and the aperture concave lens is l4; the aperture convex lens also has a through hole with a diameter of d4 at its center.

[0008] Furthermore, it also includes a lens group changing assembly disposed within the housing; the lens group changing assembly includes a turntable assembly and a turntable drive, the turntable assembly having at least two layers of coaxial turntables; each layer of the turntable is provided with a number of workstations, and the center of each workstation has a lens mounting through hole; different specifications of the perforated concave lenses are mounted on the lens mounting through holes of the uppermost turntable workstation; different specifications of the perforated convex lenses are correspondingly mounted on the lens mounting through holes of the lower turntable workstations; the turntable drive drives the turntable assembly to rotate relative to the housing at a certain angle, so that the perforated concave lenses, the perforated convex lenses, and the convex lenses are coaxial.

[0009] Furthermore, it also includes an opening and closing chamber located at the laser beam emitting end on the housing, and a pneumatic opening and closing assembly is provided in the opening and closing chamber; during operation, the pneumatic opening and closing assembly uses pressurized gas to open the opening and closing chamber; initially, the opening and closing chamber is in a closed state.

[0010] Furthermore, the opening and closing chamber has three compartments; each compartment has a light-transmitting hole coaxial with the optical lens group; the pneumatic opening and closing assembly includes an opening and closing component, an elastic element, a connecting component, and a pneumatic component, the opening and closing component being movably engaged within the opening and closing chamber; an elastic element is provided between the opening and closing component and the opening and closing chamber; in the initial state, under the action of the elastic element, the opening and closing component closes the light-transmitting hole; the pneumatic component is poweredly connected to the opening and closing component through the connecting component; the pneumatic component is movably engaged within the chamber; during operation, pressurized gas pushes the pneumatic component to move, thereby opening the light-transmitting hole.

[0011] Furthermore, it also includes a purging nozzle for purging molten slag, the purging nozzle being fixed to the laser beam emission end on the housing.

[0012] Furthermore, the purging nozzle includes an outer nozzle ring, an inner nozzle liner, and an air inlet; the outer nozzle ring and the inner nozzle liner form a cavity; the air inlet is located at one end of the cavity, and the laser beam is emitted through the inner nozzle liner, with the cavity serving as a gas emission channel.

[0013] In addition, the present invention also provides a laser-coupled TBM cutter head, including a laser cutting machine main unit, a beam transmission cable, a beam transmission slip ring, and the aforementioned laser cutting head; the laser cutting head is mounted on the cutter head and located between adjacent roller cutters; the laser cutting machine main unit is mounted on the rear of the TBM; the stator of the beam transmission slip ring is fixed to the main unit frame, and the rotor of the beam transmission slip ring is fixed to the cutter head; the laser cutting machine main unit is used to generate a preliminary focused beam; the preliminary focused beam is successively transmitted through the beam transmission cable disposed outside the cutter head, the beam transmission slip ring, and the beam transmission cable disposed inside the cutter head, and finally transmitted to the laser cutting head through the convex lens.

[0014] The laser cutting head of this invention employs an open concave lens to appropriately diverge the focused laser edge, reducing the edge laser energy density. This ensures that the central laser cuts while minimizing the formation of glass enamel at the cutting edge. Furthermore, coaxial figure-eight compressed air is used to promptly separate and cool the molten lava, further reducing glass enamel formation and preventing lava adhesion, thus improving the laser rock-breaking effect. The optical lens can be quickly and efficiently changed using a lens group rotation assembly based on different rock strata characteristics, improving work efficiency, cutting effect, and adaptability to cutting different soils and rocks. Multiple protective layers on the optical lens group effectively prevent damage from rock debris, mud, and other external factors, giving the laser cutting head good environmental adaptability and reliability. The laser-coupled TBM cutter head of this invention places the laser cutting head between adjacent cutters, quickly pre-creating a free surface, disrupting the integrity of the rock, reducing the cutting load level of the cutters, and making the rock more prone to fracture under the action of the cutters, increasing the amount of rock broken and improving the rock-breaking efficiency of the cutters. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of a laser cutting head according to the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A three-dimensional exploded view;

[0017] Figure 3 for Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure after partially concealing the shell;

[0018] Figure 4 for Figure 2 3D exploded view of the movable mirror mount;

[0019] Figure 5 for Figure 2 3D exploded view of the intermediate lens assembly rotation module;

[0020] Figure 6 for Figure 5 A three-dimensional structural diagram of a concave lens with a central aperture;

[0021] Figure 7 For example Figure 6 The top view of the concave lens with an opening shown;

[0022] Figure 8 For an aperture concave lens, such as Figure 7 The sectional view after cutting through section AA is shown;

[0023] Figure 9 for Figure 5 A three-dimensional structural diagram of a centrally located convex lens;

[0024] Figure 10 for Figure 9 Top view of a convex lens with a central aperture;

[0025] Figure 11 For an aperture convex lens, such as Figure 10 The sectional view after cutting through section AA is shown;

[0026] Figure 12 For example Figure 1 The right view of the opening and closing compartment shown in the figure;

[0027] Figure 13 To open and close the compartments Figure 12 The sectional view after cutting through section AA shown;

[0028] Figure 14 For example Figure 1 The right view of the purge nozzle shown;

[0029] Figure 15 For the purging nozzle is as follows Figure 14The sectional view after cutting through section AA shown;

[0030] Figure 16 For example Figure 1 Right view of the three-dimensional structure shown (only the opening and closing chamber and the purging nozzle are shown);

[0031] Figure 17 For opening and closing the chamber and purging nozzles Figure 16 A cross-sectional view after the AA section is cut (the light-transmitting hole is open);

[0032] Figure 18 For opening and closing the chamber and purging nozzles Figure 16 A cross-sectional view after sectioning the middle AA section (with the light aperture closed);

[0033] Figure 19 This is a comparison diagram of the beam shaping principle of a laser cutting head of the present invention and an optical lens group embedded in a traditional laser cutting head;

[0034] Figure 20 To simulate the heat source image formed on the rock surface under conventional laser irradiation;

[0035] Figure 21 The heat source diagram of the rock surface under distributed laser irradiation obtained from the simulation;

[0036] Figure 22 Schematic diagram of power density distribution of distributed laser and conventional laser beams;

[0037] Figure 23 This is a comparison diagram of the beam shaping principle of a laser cutting head (using a preferred embodiment) of the present invention and the optical lens group embedded in a traditional laser cutting head;

[0038] Figure 24 This is a front view of a laser-coupled TBM cutter head according to the present invention;

[0039] Figure 25 This is a right view of a laser-coupled TBM cutter head according to the present invention;

[0040] Figure 26 for Figure 25 A magnified view of a section at point I.

[0041] Figure 27 This is a schematic diagram of a distributed laser-assisted rotary cutter rock-breaking mechanism (with externally mounted purging nozzles and unidirectional side purging).

[0042] Reference numerals: 1. Mounting plate; 2. Upper housing assembly; 21. Upper front housing; 22. Upper rear housing; 23. Motor II; 24. Lens distance adjustment assembly; 241. Guide rod; 242. Lead screw; 243. Movable lens mount; 2431. Upper lens mount; 2432. Connecting support; 2433. Convex lens; 2434. Lower lens mount; 2435. Screw I; 244. Motor I; 245. Deep groove ball bearing; 246. Gear I; 247. Gear II; 3. Lower housing assembly; 31. Cover housing; 32. Side bottom cover housing; 33. Lens group changing assembly; 331. Turntable assembly; 3311. Upper turntable; 3312. Lower turntable; 3313, Stud; 3314, Screw II; 332, Opening concave lens; 333, Opening convex lens; 334, Rotary connecting sleeve; 4, Opening and closing chamber; 41, Opening and closing component; 42, Elastic element; 43, Connector; 44, Pneumatic component; 45, Light passage hole; 46, Chamber air inlet; 5, Gas supply assembly; 51, Gas supply pipe; 52, Chamber gas supply branch pipe; 53, Nozzle gas supply branch pipe; 6, Purging nozzle; 61, Nozzle outer ring; 62, Nozzle inner liner; 63, Nozzle air inlet; 7, Preliminary focused beam; 81, Laser cutting machine main unit; 82, Beam transmission cable; 83, Beam transmission slip ring; 9, Transition heat transfer zone. Detailed Implementation

[0043] To better understand the above-mentioned objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention, the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be combined with each other. Many specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The described embodiments are merely some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention. While many specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, the present invention can also be implemented in other ways different from those described herein. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0044] like Figures 1 to 27 The accompanying drawings are provided for this embodiment. The technical solution of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Specific Implementation Example 1:

[0046] like Figures 1 to 8 , Figure 19 As shown, a laser cutting head according to this embodiment includes a housing and an optical lens assembly;

[0047] The optical lens assembly is housed within the housing;

[0048] The optical lens assembly includes a convex lens 2433 and an open concave lens 332; the convex lens 2433 and the open concave lens 332 are spaced apart by a certain distance l1 and are arranged coaxially; the open concave lens 332 has a through hole with a diameter of d4 at its center; the open concave lens is spaced apart from the rock surface by a certain distance l2.

[0049] Before introducing the beam shaping principle of the laser cutting head in this embodiment, it is necessary to introduce the beam shaping principle of traditional lasers. Taking the E1039M laser cutting machine as an example, the laser cutting head is mounted on its three-axis traveling mechanism, also known as the moving beam. In the main unit of this type of laser cutting machine, the initial beam is first generated by the CO2 laser generator, which then outputs a stable beam through the light guide tube and the bellows. Subsequently, the stable beam is guided by the phase shifter and the reflector, and a preliminary focused beam 7 is generated by the focusing lens (e.g., ...). Figure 19 (As shown in the left part), the initially focused beam 7 enters the convex lens 2433 set inside the conventional laser cutting head through the transmission fiber, and is finally focused to generate a conventional laser beam with a diameter of d1; the convex lens 2433 is at a certain distance L from the rock surface; this conventional laser beam will form a circular spot with an outer diameter of d1 on the laser-irradiated rock surface (as shown in the left part). Figure 22 (As shown in the left part); as Figure 20 As shown, this is a simulation of the heat source formation on the rock surface under conventional laser irradiation. The power density in the entire circular spot area is characterized by high intensity and uniform distribution, with only a small number of areas with lower power density at the edge of the spot.

[0050] Unlike traditional laser cutting heads, as mentioned earlier, this embodiment of a laser cutting head sequentially includes a convex lens 2433 and an open-aperture concave lens 332. When a traditional laser beam with a diameter of d1 is incident on the open-aperture concave lens 332 (d4 < d1), the traditional laser beam with a center diameter smaller than d4 passes directly through the through-hole of the open-aperture concave lens 332, and its power density distribution characteristics remain unchanged, still constituting a traditional laser. It forms a circular laser irradiation spot with an outer diameter of d4 on the rock surface. The portion of the traditional laser beam with a diameter exceeding d4 is refracted by the solid region of the concave lens, generating a cone-shaped refracted beam (e.g., ...). Figure 19 As shown on the right side), a laser irradiation ring-shaped spot with an outer diameter of d2 is formed on the rock surface (as shown in the right side). Figure 22 (As shown on the right). This embodiment uses simulation to obtain a heat source diagram of the rock surface under laser irradiation, as shown below. Figure 21As shown, the power density is high and concentrated in the circular spot with an outer diameter of d4, while the power density in the annular spot area decreases with the increase of the radial direction (i.e., the distance between any point and the center of the optical lens group). Therefore, its power density no longer has a highly focused distribution characteristic. The conventional laser beam that passes directly through the through hole and the refracted beam generated by the refraction of the concave lens solid area are collectively referred to as the distributed laser beam.

[0051] Preferably, the aperture concave lens 332 is a spherical concave lens; more specifically, such as Figures 6 to 8 As shown, the outer diameter d5 of the spherical concave lens is 10mm, the lens thickness T1 is 3.8mm, the spherical curvature SR is 6.46mm, and the height T2 from the bottom of the spherical surface to the upper surface of the lens is 1.5mm. Specific Implementation Example 2:

[0053] Simulation studies show that the outer diameter d2 of the annular spot decreases as the spacing l2 increases. Considering that rock surfaces are often uneven in practical engineering, this can cause fluctuations in the spacing l2 during the operation of the laser cutting head of this invention. To eliminate the influence of spacing l2 fluctuations on the power density distribution characteristics of the annular spot and thus ensure stable laser rock-breaking performance, as a preferred embodiment, such as... Figure 23 As shown, the optical lens assembly also includes an aperture convex lens 333; the aperture convex lens 333 is coaxially arranged after the aperture concave lens 332 at a distance l4; the aperture convex lens 333 is at a certain distance l5 from the rock surface; the aperture convex lens 333 also has a through hole with a diameter d4 at its center; by reasonably adjusting the distances l4 and l5, it is possible to... Figure 23 A conical refracted beam with an outer diameter of d3 is transformed into a cylindrical parallel beam. The outer diameter d3 of the cylindrical parallel beam does not change with the spacing l5. In other words, the heat source distribution characteristics of the spot formed by the cylindrical parallel beam on the rock surface theoretically do not change with the fluctuation of the spacing l5. As mentioned earlier, the characteristics of a traditional laser beam with a diameter not greater than d4 remain unchanged.

[0054] More preferably, such as Figures 9 to 11 As shown, the aperture convex lens 334 is a spherical plano-convex lens with an outer diameter d6 of 25.4 mm, a lens thickness T3 of 4.3 mm, and a spherical curvature SR of 70 mm. Specific Implementation Example 3:

[0056] To adjust the distance l1 between the convex lens 2433 and the apertured concave lens 332, thereby adjusting the diameter d1 of the conventional laser beam entering the apertured concave lens 332, and ultimately achieving the purpose of adjusting the power density distribution characteristics of the distributed laser beam according to the rock lithology, preferably, the laser cutting head of the present invention also includes a lens distance adjustment component for adjusting the distance l1; the lens distance adjustment component is disposed within the housing. In this example, the lens distance adjustment component can be an electric lifting device, or a similar electric push rod with relative movement, thereby driving the convex lens 2433 to move up and down relative to the apertured concave lens 332;

[0057] More preferably, in order to adjust the spacing l1 more reliably and accurately, and to make the structure more compact and the assembly process more efficient, such as... Figure 2 , 3 As shown, the lens distance adjustment assembly 24 includes a guide rod 241, a lead screw 242, a liftable lens mount 243, a driving element, and a transmission assembly, wherein:

[0058] The adjustable lens mount 243 has a central mounting hole for mounting a convex lens 2433. The two ends of the adjustable lens mount 243 movably pass through a guide rod 241 and a lead screw 242, respectively. The guide rod 241 and lead screw 242 are arranged vertically and parallel, forming a sliding pair and a threaded transmission pair with the adjustable lens mount 243, respectively. The guide rod 241 is fixed to the housing, while the two ends of the lead screw 242 are circumferentially movable within the housing via deep groove ball bearings 245. The prime mover drives the lead screw 242 to rotate via a transmission assembly, causing the adjustable lens mount 243 to move up and down along the guide rod 241, thereby adjusting the distance l1. In this example, more specifically, the prime mover is a motor I 244. The transmission assembly includes gear I 246 and gear II 247. Gear I 246 is poweredly connected to the output shaft of motor I 244, while gear II 247 is poweredly connected to the lead screw 242.

[0059] To facilitate the replacement of the convex lens 2433, and to improve the guiding accuracy of the guide rod 241 and the transmission accuracy of the lead screw 242, in this example, more specifically, as follows: Figure 4 As shown, the adjustable lens mount 243 is a split structure, including an upper lens mount 2431, a lower lens mount 2434, and a support column 2432. A convex lens 2433 is embedded between the upper lens mount 2431 and the lower lens mount 2434. The upper lens mount 2431 and the lower lens mount 2434 are fastened into a whole by screws I2435, which confines the convex lens 2433 within the adjustable lens mount 243. A pair of support columns 2432 are installed on both sides of the adjustable lens mount 243 by screws. A guide rod 241 and a lead screw 242 pass through the support columns 2432 respectively. Specific Implementation Example 4:

[0061] The rock lithology and physical and mechanical properties of the tunneling strata are diverse. To meet the high-efficiency cutting requirements of different rock strata, based on specific embodiment three, it is necessary to further adjust the geometrical parameters (such as the aperture d4) of the concave lens 332 and the convex lens 333, as well as the spacing l4, and even to add or remove the concave lens 332 and the convex lens 333 in the beam propagation path to adjust the power density distribution characteristics of the laser beam output by the laser cutting head of the present invention. Therefore, as a preferred embodiment, the laser cutting head of the present invention further includes, as... Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 5 The lens group changing assembly 33 shown includes a turntable assembly 331 and a turntable drive component.

[0062] The turntable assembly 331 has at least two coaxial turntables; each turntable layer has the same number of indexing positions, and the indexing positions of the upper turntable correspond one-to-one with the indexing positions of the lower turntable and are coaxial; the indexing positions are symmetrically arranged circumferentially about the central axis of the turntable assembly 331, and a lens mounting through hole is opened at the center of the indexing position; an aperture concave lens 332 with different geometric parameters is mounted on the lens mounting through hole of the indexing position of the uppermost turntable; correspondingly, an aperture convex lens 333 with different geometric parameters is mounted on the indexing position of the lower turntable; the optical lens group may not be installed on the indexing position according to actual needs, so as to adjust the spacing l4 and to add or remove the aperture concave lens 332 and aperture convex lens 333 in the beam propagation path; the turntable drive drives the turntable assembly 331 to rotate relative to the housing by a certain angle, so that a set of indexing positions and convex lenses 2433 are coaxial, thereby forming a new laser beam propagation path.

[0063] To facilitate understanding of the adjustment effect of the turntable assembly 331 on the power density distribution characteristics of the laser beam output by the laser cutting head of the present invention, it is assumed that the turntable assembly 331 has three layers of turntables (not shown); each layer of turntable has 5 rotation positions; and it is assumed that the turntable assembly 331 has the following arrangement of optical lens groups:

[0064] Group 1: The optical lens groups installed on the turntable from top to bottom are: a concave lens 332 with an aperture d4 of 1.4mm, a convex lens 333 with an aperture, and a lensless lens.

[0065] Group 2: The optical lens groups installed from top to bottom are: a concave lens 332 with an aperture d4 of 2.0mm, a convex lens 333 with an aperture, and a lensless lens;

[0066] Group 3: The optical lens groups installed from top to bottom are: 332, a concave lens with an aperture d4 of 2.0mm, 333, a lensless lens, and a convex lens with an aperture;

[0067] Group 4: The optical lens groups installed from top to bottom are: 332 with an aperture d4 of 2.0mm, no lens, and no lens.

[0068] Group 5: The optical lens groups installed from top to bottom are: no lens, no lens, and no lens.

[0069] Switching from group 1 to group 2 allows for adjustment of the aperture d4; switching from group 2 to group 3 allows for adjustment of the spacing l4, achieving the desired result. Figure 23 Adjusting the beam diameter d3; switching from group 3 to group 4, then switching to... Figure 19 The beam propagation path shown on the right; switching from group 4 to group 5, as shown... Figure 19 The beam propagation path shown on the left can generate a conventional laser.

[0070] In this example, more specifically, such as Figure 5 As shown, the turntable assembly 331 includes two layers of turntables: an upper turntable 3311 and a lower turntable 3312. The upper turntable 3311 and the lower turntable 3312 are fastened together as a whole by studs 3313 and screws II 3314. Each layer of turntable has three rotation positions. The turntable drive is a motor II 23. The output shaft of motor II 23 is poweredly connected to the turntable assembly 331 via a rotary connecting sleeve 334. Specific Implementation Example 5:

[0072] To protect the internal components of the laser cutting head housing from external damage such as rock debris and mud, and to achieve a more compact structure, as a preferred embodiment, such as... Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the laser cutting head of the present invention also includes an opening and closing chamber 4 and a gas supply assembly 5; the opening and closing chamber 4 is fixed to the laser beam emission end at the lower part of the housing; a pneumatic opening and closing assembly is provided inside the opening and closing chamber 4; the gas supply assembly 5 includes a gas supply pipe 51; the gas supply pipe 51 is provided with a chamber gas supply branch pipe 52; during operation, pressurized gas is input into the pneumatic opening and closing assembly through the chamber gas supply branch pipe 52 to open the opening and closing chamber 4, thereby establishing a channel for laser beam emission, such as... Figure 17 As shown; when not in operation (initially), the opening / closing chamber 4 returns to the closed state, thereby preventing external damage, as... Figure 18 As shown.

[0073] like Figure 12 and Figure 13The diagram shows a more specific embodiment of the opening / closing chamber 4. The opening / closing chamber 4 has three compartments: upper, middle, and lower. Each compartment has a light-transmitting hole 45 coaxial with the optical lens assembly. The pneumatic opening / closing assembly includes an opening / closing element 41, an elastic element 42, a connecting element 43, and a pneumatic component 44. The opening / closing element 41 is movably engaged within the opening / closing chamber 4, more specifically located within a sliding groove in the upper compartment. An elastic element 42 is positioned between the opening / closing element 41 and the opening / closing chamber 4. In the initial state, under the action of the elastic element 42, the opening / closing element 41 abuts against the end wall of one side of the sliding groove. At this time, the opening / closing element 41 blocks the light-transmitting hole 45 on the middle compartment, thus closing the opening / closing chamber 4. Figure 18 As shown; the pneumatic component 44 is poweredly connected to the opening and closing component 41 via the connecting component 43; the pneumatic component 44 is airtightly and movably locked within the cavity; during operation, as... Figure 17 As shown, pressurized gas enters the chamber through the chamber gas supply branch pipe 52 and the chamber air inlet 46, thereby driving the pneumatic component 44 to move, ultimately opening the light-transmitting hole 45 on the partition layer to establish a channel for laser beam emission, as shown. Figure 17 As shown; in the initial state, under the restoring force of the elastic element 42, the opening and closing member 41 moves again, closing the opening and closing chamber 4 again. In addition, the pneumatic member 44 can also be a pneumatic push rod. Specific Implementation Example Six:

[0075] In order to promptly blow away the lava generated during laser irradiation and to protect the optical lens assembly, as a preferred option, such as Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the laser cutting head of the present invention also includes a purge nozzle 6; the purge nozzle 6 is fixed on the laser beam emitting end on the housing and is located on the side closest to the rock surface; the gas supply pipe 51 is provided with a nozzle gas supply branch pipe 53; during operation, pressurized gas is input into the purge nozzle 6 through the nozzle gas supply branch pipe 53 for purge lava.

[0076] like Figures 14 to 16 The image shows a more specific embodiment of the purging nozzle 6. For ease of manufacturing and assembly, the purging nozzle 6 includes an outer nozzle ring 61 and an inner nozzle bushing 62; the outer nozzle ring 61 and the inner nozzle bushing 62 are fastened by pipe threads; a cavity is formed between the outer nozzle ring 61 and the inner nozzle bushing 62; a nozzle air supply branch pipe 53 communicates with the cavity via a nozzle air inlet 63 provided on the purging nozzle 6; a gas exit channel (e.g., a slit, hole, or notch) is provided on the side of the cavity closest to the rock surface. More specifically, in this example, as... Figure 15 and 17 As shown, the gas ejection channel is an annular slit; during operation, the nozzle gas supply branch pipe 53 delivers pressurized gas into the cavity from the nozzle inlet 63, and finally ejects it at high speed from the gas ejection channel.

[0077] More specifically, in this example, such as Figure 12 As shown, the purge airflow ejected from the gas ejection channel forms an inward-facing V-shaped wind curtain; thus, it avoids the problem that "existing unidirectional side-blowing methods easily blow lava onto the rolling and rock-breaking path of adjacent cutters, thereby causing severe abrasive wear failure of the cutter ring".

[0078] Of course, such as Figure 27 As shown, a separate purge nozzle 6 can also be configured on the side of the laser cutting head of this invention to purge the lava using a unidirectional side-blowing method. Unlike this existing solution, this invention integrates the purge nozzle 6, thus eliminating the need for an additional nozzle protection device. Therefore, it has low implementation cost, compact structure, and high protection reliability. At the same time, the purge nozzle 6 is positioned as close as possible to the laser beam emission end, making it as close as possible to the circular light spot generated in the laser core region. Therefore, the pressure drop loss of the pressurized gas is small, and the purge efficiency is higher. Specific Implementation Example 7:

[0080] For ease of manufacturing, installation, and maintenance, the housing of the laser cutting head of the present invention preferably adopts a split structure; the housing includes an upper housing assembly 2 and a lower housing assembly 3; the upper housing assembly 2 is mainly used to accommodate most of the mirror distance adjustment assembly 24, such as... Figure 3 The transmission assembly is located in the lower housing assembly 3, which includes an upper front housing 21 and an upper rear housing 22; the upper front housing 21 and the upper rear housing 22 are fastened together as a whole by fastening screws; the lower housing assembly is fixed to the lower part of the upper housing assembly; the lower housing assembly 3 is mainly used to accommodate most of the lens group changing assembly 33, such as... Figure 3 The turntable drive component is located on the upper housing assembly 2, including a cover shell 31 and a side support plate 32; the cover shell 31 and the side support plate 32 are fastened together as a whole by screws. Specific Implementation Example 8:

[0082] It is worth noting that the housing of the laser cutting head of the present invention is constructed by means of, for example, Figure 1 The mounting plate 1 shown is fastened to the three-axis traveling mechanism (also known as the moving crossbeam) of the main machine tool part of a traditional laser cutting machine using screws (unnumbered), thereby forming a new type of distributed laser cutting machine for cutting broken rocks using a laser cutting head of the present invention. Specific Implementation Example Nine:

[0084] The laser cutting head of this invention can also be used by means of, for example Figure 1 The mounting plate 1 shown is installed on the cutting section of cutting equipment such as TBMs, roadheaders, drilling rigs, and open-pit mining machines. Figure 24The diagram shows the effect of mounting a laser cutting head of the present invention on the cutting part of a TBM, namely the TBM cutter head (hereinafter referred to as the cutter head), thus forming a laser-coupled TBM cutter head of the present invention. Figure 25 and Figure 26 As shown, the present invention provides a laser-coupled TBM cutter head, characterized in that it includes a laser cutting head, a laser cutting machine host 81, a beam transmission cable 82, and a beam transmission slip ring 83 as described in any one of specific embodiments one to eight; the housing of the laser cutting head is provided by means of... Figure 1 The mounting plate 1 shown is fastened to the cutter head; the laser cutting head is embedded between adjacent roller cutters; the laser cutting machine host 81 is mounted on the rear of the TBM; the stator of the beam transmission slip ring 83 is fixed to the host frame, and the rotor of the beam transmission slip ring 83 is fixed to the cutter head; the laser cutting machine host 81 is used to generate... Figure 19 The initially focused beam 7 is shown. The initially focused beam 7 is transmitted sequentially through a beam transmission cable 82 located outside the cutter head, a beam transmission slip ring 83, and a beam transmission cable 82 located inside the cutter head, finally reaching the laser cutting head. More specifically, the beam transmission slip ring 83 can be an MFO107 series photoelectric slip ring; the beam transmission cable 82 is an optical fiber.

[0085] In this example, more specifically, the air compressor host is also installed on the back of the TBM; the pressurized gas generated by the air compressor host can be transmitted to the laser cutting head through the air supply pipe 51 located outside the cutter head, the pneumatic slip ring (not labeled), and the air supply pipe 51 located inside the cutter head.

[0086] According to relevant experimental verification and analysis, compared with traditional laser rock breaking and traditional TBM cutter head rock breaking, the laser-coupled TBM cutter head and its laser cutting head involved in this invention have the following outstanding advantages:

[0087] 1) Distributed lasers can be fabricated; the energy density distribution pattern of the core region of a distributed laser is basically consistent with that of a circular laser, thus retaining the unique advantage of highly concentrated energy density inherent in traditional lasers. This allows for applications such as... Figure 24 The macroscopic fracturing morphology, such as laser grooves, is pre-fabricated rapidly between adjacent roller cutters, providing beneficial rock-breaking conditions similar to a free surface for subsequent rock breaking. Therefore, this reduces the cutting load level of the roller cutters on the one hand, and increases the amount of rock broken on the other. Meanwhile, the outer beams have different optical properties. After being refracted by a spherical concave lens, the parallel outer beams ultimately form a relatively large-area annular spot with a relatively dispersed energy density distribution on the rock surface. A gap exists between the annular spot and the core circular spot, similar to... Figure 27The annular transition heat transfer zone 9 shown undoubtedly greatly improves the heat accumulation phenomenon in the core area and effectively suppresses the large-scale formation of glass glaze. At this time, although the diameter of the circular spot in the core area is reduced, the laser grooving profile size is actually increased.

[0088] 2) Distributed lasers have more heat transfer paths, including: Figure 27 As shown, similar to traditional lasers, the heat from both the core laser and the outer laser can be conducted in three directions: vertical (to deep rock strata), radial (via the transition heat transfer zone 9, to the internal rock strata between the grooves), and lateral (to the shallow surface of the rock). Figure 27 As shown; due to the fact that some rock layers undergo two heat superpositions, and the heat absorption of the glass glaze material is suppressed, although the energy density of the outer beam is reduced after being refracted by the concave spherical lens, a heat-affected zone with a wider range of influence and no significant weakening of the influence is obtained.

[0089] 3) By utilizing the mirror distance adjustment component and the turntable component 331, the power density distribution characteristics of the output laser beam can be adjusted, and even the online real-time switching between distributed laser and traditional laser can be realized, thus meeting the high-efficiency cutting requirements of different rock strata. Taking the adjustment of the object distance as an example, the thermal cracking influence area can be expanded by adjusting the distance l2 to give full play to the thermo-mechanical coupling rock breaking effect, thereby promoting the convergence of lateral cracks of adjacent cutters, improving the optimal cutter spacing (reducing the number of cutters required by the cutter head), and ultimately greatly improving the rock breaking efficiency of the cutter.

[0090] 4) An apertured convex lens 333 is arranged after the apertured concave lens 332, which can transform the conical refracted beam into a cylindrical parallel beam, thus eliminating the influence of the fluctuation of the rock surface height on the power density distribution characteristics of the annular spot, thereby ensuring the stability of the laser rock breaking performance.

[0091] 5) The pneumatically driven opening and closing chamber 4 protects the internal components of the laser cutting head from external damage such as rock debris and mud, while also making the structure more compact.

[0092] 6) The lava generated during laser irradiation is promptly blown outward using the purge nozzle 6 to suppress the formation of glass glaze by physical means and to reliably protect the optical lens assembly.

[0093] 7) It adopts a split shell structure, which facilitates manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

[0094] In this invention, it should be understood that the disclosed components and structures can be implemented in other ways. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that it can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered illustrative and non-limiting in all respects, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Therefore, all variations falling within the meaning and scope of equivalents of the claims are intended to be embraced within this invention. No reference numerals in the claims should be construed as limiting the scope of the claims. Furthermore, it is clear that the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the singular does not exclude the plural.

[0095] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions to the technical solutions of the present invention are not contrary to the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.

[0096] In the several specific embodiments provided in this invention, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and components can be implemented in other ways. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that it can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered exemplary and non-limiting in all respects, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Therefore, all variations falling within the meaning and scope of equivalents of the claims are intended to be included within this invention. No reference numerals in the claims should be construed as limiting the scope of the claims. Furthermore, it is clear that the word "comprising" does not exclude other units or steps, and the singular does not exclude the plural. Multiple units or devices recited in the system claims may also be implemented by the same unit or device in software or hardware. The terms "first," "second," etc., are used to indicate names and do not indicate any particular order.

[0097] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions to the technical solutions of the present invention should not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.

Claims

1. A laser cutting head characterized by: Includes a housing and an optical lens assembly disposed within the housing; the optical lens assembly comprises lenses spaced at a certain distance from each other. l 1. A convex lens and an apertured concave lens are provided; the apertured concave lens has a central opening with a diameter of... d A through hole of size 4; the initial focused beam generated by the laser cutting machine host, after being incident through the convex lens, produces a diameter of... d A laser beam of size 1, d4 < d1, wherein after exiting through the concave lens with an opening, the laser beam produces a direct laser beam that passes directly through the opening and a refracted beam that is refracted by the solid region of the concave lens; the laser beam also includes a device disposed within the housing for adjusting the spacing. l The system includes a lens distance adjustment assembly; it also includes an opening / closing chamber located at the laser beam emission end on the housing, wherein a pneumatic opening / closing assembly is installed within the opening / closing chamber; during operation, the pneumatic opening / closing assembly uses pressurized gas to open the opening / closing chamber; initially, the opening / closing chamber is closed; the opening / closing chamber has three compartments; each compartment has a light-transmitting hole coaxial with the optical lens group; the pneumatic opening / closing assembly includes an opening / closing element, an elastic element, a connecting element, and a pneumatic component; the opening / closing element is movably engaged within the opening / closing chamber; an elastic element is provided between the opening / closing element and the opening / closing chamber; initially, under the action of the elastic element, the opening / closing element closes the light-transmitting hole; the pneumatic component is poweredly connected to the opening / closing element through the connecting element; the pneumatic component is movably engaged within the chamber; during operation, pressurized gas pushes the pneumatic component to move, thereby opening the light-transmitting hole.

2. A laser cutting head according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mirror distance adjusting assembly comprises a guide rod, a screw rod, a movable mirror seat, a prime mover and a transmission assembly, the movable mirror seat is used for clamping the convex lens; the guide rod and the screw rod are movably arranged through two ends of the movable mirror seat respectively; the guide rod is fixedly connected with the shell, and the screw rod is rotatably arranged in the shell; the prime mover is used for driving the screw rod to rotate, so that the movable mirror seat moves along the guide rod.

3. A laser cutting head according to claim 1, characterized in that: The optical lens assembly further includes an aperture convex lens disposed after the aperture concave lens; the distance between the aperture convex lens and the aperture concave lens is... l 4; The center of the apertureed convex lens also has a diameter of d 4 through holes.

4. A laser cutting head according to claim 3, wherein: The mirror group rotating assembly arranged in the shell is further included; the mirror group rotating assembly comprises a rotating disc assembly and a rotating disc driving element, the rotating disc assembly has not less than two coaxial rotating discs; each rotating disc is provided with a plurality of work stations, and a lens mounting through hole is arranged at the center of each work station; the open hole concave lens of different specifications is clamped on the lens mounting through hole of the work station of the uppermost rotating disc; the open hole convex lens of different specifications is correspondingly clamped on the lens mounting through hole of the work station of the lower rotating disc; the rotating disc driving element drives the rotating disc assembly to rotate relative to the shell by a certain angle, so that the open hole concave lens, the open hole convex lens and the convex lens are coaxial.

5. The laser cutting head of claim 1, wherein: The purging nozzle for purging slag is further included, and the purging nozzle is fixedly arranged at the laser beam exit end of the shell.

6. A laser cutting head according to claim 5, wherein: The purging nozzle comprises a nozzle outer ring sleeve, a nozzle inner lining and an air inlet; a cavity is formed between the nozzle outer ring sleeve and the nozzle inner lining; the air inlet is arranged at one end of the cavity, the laser beam is emitted out of the nozzle inner lining, and the cavity is a gas emission channel.

7. A laser coupled TBM cutterhead, characterized by: The laser cutting machine main machine, the beam transmission cable, the beam transmission slip ring and the laser cutting head according to any one of claims 1-6 are further included; the laser cutting head is installed on the cutter head and located between adjacent hobbing cutters; the laser cutting machine main machine is arranged on the TBM rear matching device; the stator of the beam transmission slip ring is fixedly connected with the main machine frame, and the rotor of the beam transmission slip ring is fixedly connected with the cutter head; the laser cutting machine main machine is used for generating a primary focused beam; the primary focused beam is sequentially transmitted through the beam transmission cable arranged outside the cutter head, the beam transmission slip ring, the beam transmission cable arranged inside the cutter head and finally the convex lens to the laser cutting head.

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